Friday, June 28, 2024

06/28 Links Pt1: Glick: Debate takeaways for Israel; Phillips: Reality check; Biden’s ‘reformed PA’ marketing strategy; China Is Waging a Proxy War on Israel

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Debate takeaways for Israel
This brings us to the second question. What difference will this make for Israel?

And how would a different Democratic president treat Israel?

In the case of Newsom or Shapiro, in all likelihood, their Israel policy would be a continuation of Biden’s. To the extent that Biden has become more hostile over time, they would continue on that trajectory. This is the case because Biden’s policies aren’t his personal preferences. His pro-Iran, pro-Palestinian policies are those of the Democratic Party’s foreign-policy establishment.

That establishment takes its cues from former President Barack Obama and current U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Every one of Biden’s Middle East advisors served in the Obama administration. Blinken, who owes his position to his longstanding service to Biden—first when Biden was in the Senate and then as vice president—shares Obama’s sympathies for Iran and the Palestinians, in addition to his hostility towards Israel.

If Newsom or Shapiro—or any other Democrat—is selected to serve as party nominee by the party bosses who control the convention, then he will owe his position to the party bosses that put him there, not to voters. They have no independent source of power to draw from if they oppose the policies that Obama’s party establishment expects them to adopt. And so, they can be expected to continue down the road of progressively more anti-Israel policies that Biden is on now.

Since she served as first lady, Michelle Obama showed herself to be even more hostile towards Israel than her husband. After Oct. 7, she ignored pleas from the Israeli government, from Israeli victims, from hostages’ families and from Jewish Democrats to condemn the mass rape of Israeli women by Hamas and the atrocities that the terror group and ordinary Palestinians committed. Former President Obama, for his part, issued a statement after Oct. 7 that focused more on warning Israel not to retaliate in a manner that would harm Palestinians than on supporting Israel in its war for national survival.

The Obamas’ deep-seated hostility towards the Jewish state is exposed not only by their statements but by the company they keep. A week after Hamas’s invasion, The Washington Free Beacon reported that Misha Euceph, a producer of the Obama family’s various podcast series, denied on her social-media accounts that Hamas raped Israeli women and girls. Among other things, she wrote, “The more I’ve been thinking about it, the more I’m realizing—and I think a lot of other people are, too—that these reports and statements about rape and murder of babies are completely unverified, and they actually feed into Islamophobic tropes that we’re not talking about at all.”

The upshot for Israel is that if Biden is replaced, his replacement will become the favorite to win in November. And if that happens, Israel can assume that it will either see a continuation of Biden’s policies or face a Michelle Obama administration whose policies and rhetoric will likely be more unapologetically and openly hostile than anything Israel has experienced to date.
Melanie Phillips: Reality check
The war against Israel, which is being waged simultaneously on seven fronts, is being orchestrated by Iran. A constant source of astonishment has been the concern shown by the Biden administration — while professing support for Israel against Hamas — to protect Iran. When Israel wanted to nip Hezbollah’s attacks in the bud soon after October 7, the US told it not to do so. Even now, the US is telling Israel the same thing. It has done everything possible to hamper and prevent Israel’s attempt to destroy Hamas, Iran’s proxy in Gaza. Even after Iran itself unleashed a hail of missiles against Israel in April, the US forbade the Israelis to attack Iran in response.

This is all part of what many call the Obama Doctrine, being implemented by an administration whose key Middle East officials are Israel-hating Obama retreads — and whose scenario for a new Middle East order, astoundingly, features genocidal and Islamist Iran as an essential counter-force to Israel and Saudi Arabia.

As explained here by Michael Doran and Tony Badran, this was the strategy behind President Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal which would have legitimised a nuclear-armed Iran with only a few years’ delay. Even when American interests have been attacked by Iranian proxies, as has happened dozens of times since October 7, the US has responded with only a limp flick of the wrist. Indeed, America’s supine and even grovelling posture towards the fanatics of Tehran, who have understood that the Biden administration seeks to appease rather than defeat the various forces ranged against the west, undoubtedly helped pave the way for the October 7 pogrom.

Now new intelligence has suggested that Iran has ramped up still further its nuclear weapon development in order to take advantage of American pre-election paralysis. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has reportedly ordered the reactivation of Israeli teams focusing on Iran's nuclear programme. There are reports that this was prompted by concerns from former security officials about Israel’s recent neglect of the issue. That itself is pretty alarming — if true — in what it suggests about the Israeli government. But here’s the eye catching bit as reported by the Israeli news site Walla:
A source familiar with the matter said: “Recently, the penny finally dropped.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared: “All options are on the table — Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.”

Can it really be that, at the fifty-ninth minute of the eleventh hour, the Biden administration has finally connected with reality? If so, things must be even more terrifying than anyone had thought.
Last night’s debate will impact the Middle East as well as the US
In the Middle East, the JCPOA (the Iran nuclear deal) told Iran that the West was there to be had, with the easing of sanctions allowing the Tehran regime to boost both its terror funding and its nuclear programme.

Which brings us to last night, and the impact not just on the presidential race but on the here and now. The debate will have been watched in Moscow, in Tehran, in Pyongyang and elsewhere and one message will have been heard loud and clear: the US is led by a bumbling fool. Imagine how Hamas and Hezbollah will have reacted. With Iran in control, it was always pretty fanciful to think that US pressure could have much impact on the terror organisations directly. But after last night, the idea that Nasrallah is quaking lest the US be angered by Hezbollah’s increasing attacks on Israel is not so much a sick joke and plain idiotic.

As it is, tensions between Israel and the US have been worryingly open in recent weeks – at the very time when it is most vital that the US is seen as staunch in its support for its key regional ally. Add to that the (now surely impossible to refute) view that the US is as weak and – literally – pathetic as its leader, and the omens for the next few weeks and months are as bad as they have ever been.

Viewed in this context, the immediate issue that arises from last night’s debate is not whether Biden should be president for another term. And it’s not – appalling though the prospect may be – whether it should be Trump. It’s whether Biden should even be president for the remainder of this term.


Biden’s ‘reformed PA’ marketing strategy
If the Biden administration genuinely insisted on a “reformed” or “revitalized” P.A., here are the minimal steps required to realize the idea:
- P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is now serving the 19th year of his four-year term, would have to resign.
- Democratic elections would have to be held in the P.A.-controlled territories.
- The P.A. would have to stop committing wanton civil rights violations, torture of dissidents and other abuses. It would also have to stop persecuting minorities and tolerating “honor killings” of Muslim women.
- The P.A. would have to stop paying salaries and other financial rewards to imprisoned terrorists and the families of dead terrorists.
- The P.A. would have to change the names of hundreds of streets and schools that are named after terrorists.
- The P.A. would have to extradite terrorists to Israel; arrest and imprison terrorists; disarm, outlaw and expel terrorist groups, many connected to the P.A.; and halt anti-Jewish incitement—all of which are required by the Oslo Accords.

Does anyone really expect any of this to happen? Of course not. Moreover, the White House and the State Department know it will never happen. That’s why they came up with the sham terms “reformed P.A.” and “revitalized P.A.,” which sound nice but mean nothing.

Last March, Abbas replaced some of his cabinet ministers, which he periodically does for various internal P.A. reasons. Naturally, the U.S. State Department jumped on the news in hopes of boosting its plan to create a Palestinian state that will be run by a “reformed P.A.”

Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the Biden administration was looking forward to working with the new group of ministers “to deliver on credible reforms” because “a revitalized P.A. is essential to delivering results for the Palestinian people in both the West Bank and Gaza.”

That was three months ago. Clearly, the reform and revitalization that Miller applauded didn’t amount to much, since Thomas-Greenfield is still prattling on about the need for the P.A. “to reform itself and that it do so as quickly as possible.”

It’s time for Biden, Miller and Thomas-Greenfield to admit the truth: There never was any real plan to “reform” or “revitalize” the P.A. The entire idea is just a ploy to impose a Palestinian state on the Israelis. Friends of Israel can see right through it.
Disarm Hezbollah—a ‘permanent threat to Israel, America, and the West’
The problem with UNSC 1701 and UNIFIL
The 2006 Second Lebanon War ended with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which expanded the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and required Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River.

According to Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the non-partisan Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, “While 1701 did achieve calm and quiet for some time and bought Israel some 15 years of quiet on the border with Lebanon, it has since 2020 become irrelevant.”

“The main problem with 1701 is that it is unverifiable,” he said. “Hezbollah fighters move around in civilian clothing, meshing with noncombatants, which makes verifying their withdrawal north of the Litani impossible,” he explained.

“At best,” he said, “Israel could hope to make sure that arms depots, especially rockets and anti-tank missiles, stay north of the Litani, and this would need both Israel destroying these caches and giving UNIFIL enough teeth to enforce the new reality, moving forward.”

Abdul-Hussain explained that UNIFIL’s problem is its mandate.

When UNIFIL was expanded under 1701 in 2006, “the idea was that this army-size force would be able to rein in Hezbollah and ensure the disarmament of Lebanese territory south of the Litani, with the Lebanese military being the only other armed force.”

“The problem,” he said, “was that 1701 was endorsed under Chapter VI of the U.N. Charter [as opposed to mandatory Chapter VII which overrides local government sovereignty], meaning 1701 does not override Lebanese sovereignty but is implemented with the approval and cooperation of the Lebanese government.”

According to Abdul-Hussain, UNIFIL’s operation was thus made incumbent on getting clearance from the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), which is infiltrated and dominated by Hezbollah.

He noted that Israel did provide UNIFIL with intel on Hezbollah’s arms depots south of the Litani, but UNIFIL could not act without informing the LAF first, which leaked the info to Hezbollah, which then moved the arms before UNIFIL arrived.

When Hezbollah couldn’t move its arms fast enough, it sent “locals” to prevent UNIFIL from reaching the area.

UNIFIL was powerless.

“Israel has tried to amend UNIFIL’s mandate, and there have been amendments, but thanks to the French, which almost always take Hezbollah’s side, no serious changes to the UNIFIL mission have been approved at the U.N. annual renewal,” he said.
Should Biden let Hezbollah and the Houthis get a say in Gaza?
Gulf governments were right. America has been fighting half a war, allowing a ragtag militia to sink one ship and set another ablaze, six months into the war. Why half a war? Because it turns out that the Biden Administration believes that wiping out the Houthis would lead to mayhem.

If the Houthis are Washington’s bet for regional stability, then no wonder Biden’s Middle East policy has been one big mess, producing three wars and no solutions.

Former US president Barack Obama, one of the most anti-war presidents who went out of his way to appease Iran, would still occasionally say, whenever addressing Iranian nuclear belligerence, that “all options are on the table,” hinting that America would not shy away from using military power against Iran.

When former US president Donald Trump killed Qassem Soleimani, the move suppressed Iran’s appetite for destruction, at least while Trump remained in office: Uranium enrichment stayed at less than five percent while militia harassment of America’s friends and allies stopped.

Biden’s foreign policy philosophy is appeasement, which has been a drag on America’s allies, particularly Israel in dealing with Hezbollah. Washington has so far insisted that it opposes an all-out Israeli war, even though Hezbollah started it and shows no signs of stopping.

If the goal must be “no war,” then there will be few tools left to safeguard US national interests or those of its allies.

Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis see America’s weaknesses and are exploiting them, hoping to set precedents, such as giving Hezbollah and the Houthis a say over whatever Israel does in Gaza, and perhaps soon over whatever Israel does in the West Bank or Syria, and after that whatever America does anywhere. By then, Biden would have managed to end wars, minimizing America’s global influence, and seriously hurting America’s allies.
China Is Waging a Proxy War on Israel
Massive amounts of recently acquired advanced Chinese military equipment and weapons technology were foundin Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces, according to Guermantes Lailari, a Scholar at National Chengchi University in Taiwan and retired U.S. Air Force Officer. Chinese tunnel warfare specialists helped design and build the Hamas tunnels. Lailari also told me that two tunnel engineers from China's People's Liberation Army were discovered by the IDF, meaning that China helped Hamas significantly in its construction of the massive tunnel networks under the Gaza Strip. (The engineers were returned to China after pressure on Israel.)

And at the end of April, the CCP hosted Hamas and Fatah leadership in an effort to bring unity between the Palestinian factions.

Why has the CCP, with extensive trade relations with Israel and a traditionally neutral posture in the Middle East, suddenly turned so sharply against the Jewish state?

In March of 2021, Iran and the CCP signed a 25-year cooperation pact which Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called "permanent and strategic." Per the agreement, China will invest in Iranian energy, infrastructure, transport, and seaports. In exchange, Iran will provide a discounted regular supply of its oil.

China and Iran have since intensified the partnership in all these areas. And one of Iran's key strategic goals, the purpose of proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, is the destruction of Israel (the "little Satan"), and eventually the United States (the "great Satan").

And here's where China's goals and Iran's overlap: In May 2019, Xi Xinping declared a "People's War" against the United States. The PLA website explains that "a people's war is a total war, and its strategy and tactics require the overall mobilization of political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, military, and other power resources, the integrated use of multiple forms of struggle and combat methods."

China and Iran have a comprehensive strategic partnership and share the goal of bringing down the United States. This is why China is promoting Iran's geopolitical goals in the Middle East.

It is high time that Israel and the United States recognize the truth: The CCP is an enemy of America—and an enemy of the State of Israel.


Outgoing EU foreign minister blocked from anti-Israel initiative
A conference scheduled by outgoing European Union (EU) Foreign Minister Josep Borrell in which he planned to pass resolutions condemning Israel's war in Gaza, will be held only after the senior official who is seen as particularly critical of the government, leaves office.

Borrell hoped to enlist support from Spain, Ireland and Belgium in a gathering of the EU-Israel Association Council –the steering committee for EU-Israel relations, to be attended by Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz.

Diplomatic efforts including Katz's appeal to his Hungarian counterpart and the support of foreign ministers from Germany, Greece, the Czech Republic, Austria, resulted in the event being postponed until after newly elected EU officials step into office after July 1, in the wake of the elections to the European parliament.

There must be unanimous consensus of all 27 member states in the steering committee on the agenda. Sources in the EU said negotiations would begin to agree on the subjects raised for discussion. They were expected to last through October, when Borrell will be replaced by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.

Kallas is considered to be more supportive of Israel, by the Foreign Ministry, although she has said that there must be a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and has spoken extensively about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. She expressed extreme criticism of the October 7 massacre and said Israel had the right to defend itself.


Seth Mandel: Biden Panic Goes Global
Under normal circumstances, I would have said that the exclusion from last night’s presidential debate of anti-Semitism was so significant as to merit our full attention. After all, it’s not merely a question of Jews feeling comfortable on campus or elsewhere; it’s a steady stream of violent riots that have taken a can of bear spray to American civic life.

And yet, it honestly feels silly even complaining about that—or anything else issue-based, for that matter. The feeling of crisis at this moment is so acute that all issues take a backseat—and that is a crisis all its own.

The crisis is international. Maybe even more so than it is domestic. And it’s worth talking about the repercussions and implications of that.

The homepage of the UK Telegraph this morning was filled to the brim with headlines like “Biden under pressure to quit after ‘painful’ debate performance”; “Biden is a danger to the world”; “The Free World must have a new leader”; etc. The Russians over at Sputnik were of course having their fun with President Biden’s “Debate Debacle.” Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald: “Democrats have other options after Biden disaster.” The South China Morning Post uses the follow quote as its headline: “Biden might have imploded.”

In the United Arab Emirates, The National tells its readers that “Biden faces calls to step aside after poor debate performance.” An opinion piece on the Toronto Star’s homepage puts it colorfully: “Joe Biden reportedly had a cold. After watching him perform, the whole world is feeling sick.”

Again, as of late morning Friday these were all on their respective newspapers’ home pages, and they were all headlines—not simply lines in a story. It is not great.

The pro-Hamas riot movement and Joe Biden’s poor cognitive performance are reminders of something else: Donald Trump’s presidency was also marked by domestic unrest, but the international arena was noticeably and undeniably quieter than it has been under Biden—which is, I believe, a large part of the global anxiety over last night.

That is not to say that there were no crises during Trump’s presidency. But there is a land war in Europe and the Middle East is aflame worse than it’s been arguably since the 1970s, and those two fronts were simmering but subdued during the four years before Biden took over.


Trump accuses Biden of wanting to let Hamas remain in power
Israel and Jewish issues played a small but explosive role in the presidential debate between US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on Thursday night.

In an exchange about what leverage Biden would use to get Hamas to agree to a ceasefire-for-hostages deal that he announced in May, Trump accused Biden of wanting to let Hamas remain in power.

“Israel is the one, and you should let ’em go and let ’em finish the job,” Trump said. “He doesn’t want to do it. He’s become like a Palestinian. But they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian, he’s a weak one.”

Biden in his preceding answer claimed that he had “saved Israel,” but that the Jewish state had “killed a lot of innocent people.”

“We’re providing Israel with all the weapons they need and when they need them,” Biden said, in apparent reference to accusations that he has been slow-walking arms shipments to Israel. “They’ve been greatly weakened, Hamas, and they should be eliminated. But you’ve got to be careful when using certain weapons among population centres.”

US foreign policy and the Israeli response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks occupied only a fraction of the 90-minute debate, which focused largely on domestic issues and the respective records of the two presidents in office.


US envoy to Human Rights Council blasts UN official
Washington’s ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva hit back at a U.N. official’s denigration of the most widely accepted definition of antisemitism and a minimizing of Jew-hatred on campuses globally.

Farida Shaheed, the special U.N. rapporteur on the right to education, filed a report in April after a late 2023 tour of U.S. college campuses, in which she said that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism “conflates criticisms of Israel with antisemitism to silence lawful speech supportive of Palestinian human rights and the right to self-determination.”

The U.N. official lamented in the report that Hamas supporters were “blacklisted as supporters of terrorism, with accompanying threats to their prospects for future employment.”

There were also “actions to curtail speech” of those who “express solidarity with the suffering civilians in Gaza and denounce the ongoing Israeli military response,” Shaheed said.

She claimed in passing that she is “equally concerned at the reported increase of antisemitism in universities” following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, “but regrets that the resort to the IHRA definition brings confusion on such an important issue.”

During a dialogue with Shaheed at the Human Rights Council on Tuesday, Michèle Taylor, the U.S. ambassador to the council, welcomed Shaheed’s “note of concern at the rise of antisemitism on campuses.”

“Indeed, religious and ethnic Jewish students are experiencing discrimination and harassment on campuses throughout the Diaspora,” the U.S. envoy said.

“Unfortunately, the blatant mischaracterization in your report of a long-standing and widely used structure to address antisemitism is harmful to much-needed efforts put in place to ensure that those students can access the education they deserve,” Taylor said.


‘Stunt, total joke’ for UN to list IDF as child abusers, congressman says
Washington’s greatest ally in the Middle East and its leadership try to protect life, while Hamas hides behind human shields “like a bunch of cowards,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) stated on Thursday.

The congressman sponsored a bipartisan resolution, H.Res. 1323, criticizing António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, for including the Israel Defense Forces this month in the global body’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict “on a list of parties to conflict that have not put in place adequate measures to protect children.”

The resolution, in part, “condemns the United Nations’ longstanding bias against Israel across multiple United Nations bodies, including the United Nations Human Rights Council and United Nations Security Council.”

“This latest stunt by the United Nations is a total joke,” Burchett stated of listing the IDF in the report. “We need to make it clear to the United Nations that the United States completely supports Israel’s efforts to wipe these terrorists off the map.”

Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) co-sponsored the resolution.

“This U.N. move is just the latest example of the ridiculous, antisemitic double standard that Israel has to deal with,” Moskowitz stated. “The United Nations will use kid gloves with Hamas after it murders over 1,000 innocent Israelis, but when Israel exercises its right to defend itself, the IDF gets put on the same list as the Taliban and Hezbollah.”

“If it wanted to make itself useful, the U.N. would be urging Hamas every day to accept a ceasefire and return the hostages,” Moskowitz added.

Lawler stated that the United Nations was once again “revealing itself for the cesspool of antisemitism it really is.”
Q&A: Israelis' Lawsuit Alleges U.N. Relief Agency Aids Hamas
A lawsuit filed in U.S. federal court this week alleges willful ties between the embattled U.N. agency that provides aid to Palestinians and the terror group Hamas, claiming the agency, referred to as UNRWA, helped finance operations like the group's Oct. 7 massacre of more than 1,000 Israelis.

Along with allegations that UNRWA "facilitated" the construction of Hamas command centers and attack tunnels under facilities like schools and its Gaza City headquarters – and that agency staffers were directly involved in the cross-border attacks last year – the civil suit says the agency’s practice of “deliberately paying its local personnel” in Gaza in U.S. cash requires those staffers to turn to Hamas-affiliated money-changers for Israeli shekels. Hamas, the suit alleges, “uses the moneychangers to finance its military activities,” as it controls “the majority” of Gaza money-changers and charges a fee from those it doesn’t.

The system generated “millions of dollars per month of additional income for Hamas,” the suit alleges, and provided the group with access to “hard” U.S. currency, which the suit says “Hamas desperately needed to pay its illicit weapons procurement network to smuggle into Gaza vast quantities (of) weapons, ammunition, explosives, rockets, and other materials needed by Hamas to perpetrate the October 7 Attack as well as numerous other genocidal attacks on civilians.” War in Israel and Gaza

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York on behalf of around 100 Israelis, including victims of the Oct. 7 attacks and their families. It seeks monetary compensation but faces various hurdles to success, including whether UNRWA defendants named in the suit have legal immunity from prosecution. UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma told media outlets this week that UNRWA officials do have immunity.

“There needs to be a very serious reckoning, and these victims deserve justice, but this suit will probably be tossed out on immunity ground,” Matthew C. Waxman, Liviu Librescu professor of law at Columbia Law School, tells U.S. News.

Philippe Lazzarini, the current head of UNRWA and a defendant named in the suit, told the press in Geneva earlier this week that he initially saw the complaint "as an additional way to put pressure on the agency," which earlier this year fired a number of employees accused of participating in the Oct. 7 attacks. Touma also told The Associated Press that staffers in Gaza requested to be paid in U.S. dollars “because Gaza does not have an official national currency.”

To learn more about the lawsuit and its allegations, U.S. News spoke this week with Gavriel Mairone, a Chicago-based human rights lawyer representing the plaintiffs. Questions and answers below have been edited for length and clarity.

Why do you think immunity would not apply in a lawsuit against UNRWA?

We've done extensive research on this topic. We found precedent. We firmly believe that No. 1, there is no immunity; No. 2, even if there is immunity, it's been explicitly waived by the secretary general of the United Nations and the director general of UNRWA. (Editor’s note: Mairone referenced as an example a statement, cited in the lawsuit, in which Lazzarini said UNRWA employees involved in terror activities “will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.”)

They both said that, so they've waived immunity for any employees.


Seth Frantzman: Shejaia back in the crosshairs? Can IDF's clear and clear again tactic work?
The initial battles in northern Gaza in November and December were aimed at defeating the dozen Hamas battalions there. Once they were beaten, however, Hamas divided them into smaller cells of three to five men.

The IDF has returned to “sandpaper” those remainders down. What that means is that with each pass, the IDF uses less force, and Hamas has fewer fighters.

There are diminishing returns here as well, though, and after the initial heavy fighting, a lot of buildings were destroyed.

For instance, the Paratroopers Brigade in mid-December “demolished more than 100 buildings used by Hamas in the area, as well as located dozens of tunnel shafts, and arrested many operatives who had surrendered, among them a Hamas company commander and terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacres,” the IDF said at the time. The military is now more precise and uses less firepower.

Repeat failure or successful new tactic?
The Shejaia experience raises questions about whether this will become another Jabalya or if more will be accomplished. With talk circulating of the IDF reducing the intensity of operations even more in Gaza and wrapping up its presence in Rafah, it remains unclear whether the large raids will continue.

What also remains unclear is what may happen in central Gaza, where Hamas continues to operate with stronger measures. Reports circulated that Hamas was able to move forces out of Rafah, booby-trap homes, and then wait – a sort of “cup game” throughout the enclave, moving from place to place, one step ahead of the IDF.

Hamas also continues to claim numerous attacks along with other terrorist groups, targeting IDF forces. Although most of the attacks are not successful, it shows it still has manpower. It may have taken heavy losses, of 10,000 or 15,000 fighters, but it has likely recruited more. This will continue to present a challenge.
IDF kill dozens of terrorists hiding in UNRWA schools, increase attacks in Shejaia
The IDF began activity in the area of Shejaia, located in northern Gaza, and killed dozens of terrorists operating who were hiding in United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools, the military said on Friday morning.

The IDF began a re-invasion of Shejaia in northern Gaza on Thursday after establishing operational control there in January.

According to the IDF, intelligence indicated the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in the area, resulting in their activity both above and below ground. Troops began their activity during the day and started to conduct targeted raids overnight.

Terrorists hidden in schools
Armed forces found dozens of terrorists hiding in UNRWA schools and eliminated the facilities along with other Hamas terrorist infrastructures.

The Israel Air Force also struck a terrorist that was operating in the area of Deir al Balah. The terrorists operated from within a humanitarian area.

The IDF emphasized that Hamas used the location as a shield for their activity and attempted to avoid inflicting harm on civilians.

"Before the strike, several steps were taken to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians, including evacuating the civilian population located around the structure from which the terrorist was operating, conducting aerial surveillance, and using precise munition and additional measures," the IDF said.

On Thursday, the IDF Arabic spokesman, Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, addressed the residents of Shejaia and called them to evacuate, saying, “To all residents and civilians in the Shejaia area and the new neighborhoods, for your safety, you must evacuate immediately southwards towards Salah ad-Din Street to the humanitarian zone."
House passes bipartisan amendment to block use of Gaza health ministry data
On a bipartisan basis, the House voted on Thursday for an amendment to the 2025 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations bill that would block the State Department from citing statistics provided by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health.

A handful of Democrats also voted for amendments to effectively fire Iran envoy Rob Malley, who remains suspended and under investigation, and bar the State Department from implementing the administration’s policy adding new conditions on foreign arms sales.

Gaza health ministry data, particularly casualty data, has come under increasing scrutiny in recent months, amid growing allegations that the data is not credible or reliable; the United Nations has stopped utilizing portions of that data in its own statistics.

The administration has provided conflicting responses on whether it believes and utilizes that data, saying at times that it does not consider the statistics reliable while also continuing to cite the data.

The amendment that would bar the State Department from citing that data passed the House by a 269-133 vote. Sixty-two Democrats joined 207 Republicans in voting for the amendment, while 142 Democrats and two Republicans voted against it.

Mostly moderate Democrats voted for the amendment, including Reps. Colin Allred (D-TX), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who are running for Senate seats, as did Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), who is running for governor.

None of the top three Democratic House leaders voted for the amendment, although No. 4 House Democrat Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) and former Democratic Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) supported it.

On the GOP side, Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Matt Rosendale (R-MT) voted no.

Separately, 11 Democrats — Reps. Allred, Yadira Caraveo (D-CO), Angie Craig (D-MN), Don Davis (D-NC), Jared Golden (D-ME), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Josh Harder (D-CA), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) and Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) — voted with every Republican in favor of an amendment that would ban the State Department from paying a salary to Malley or rehiring or reinstating him.

Malley has been suspended for more than a year and is reportedly under FBI investigation for allegedly mishandling classified information.

Nine Democrats voted with Republicans to pass an amendment that would bar the administration from implementing National Security Memorandum 20, the administration directive placing additional conditions on U.S. arms sales globally, which was primarily driven by progressive criticisms of Israel’s operations in Gaza. That amendment passed 207-195.

The memorandum produced a report criticizing Israel’s conduct in Gaza while also finding no grounds to halt U.S. arms sales.


IDF infantryman killed in southern Gaza, bringing ground op toll to 316
An Israeli soldier was killed fighting in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday morning, the military announced Friday.

The slain soldier was named by the Israel Defense Forces as Sgt. Eyal Shynes, 19, from Kibbutz Afik.

Shynes served with the Nahal Infantry Brigade’s 931st Battalion, which has been operating in southern Gaza’s Rafah. He was killed in a sniper attack claimed by Hamas.

Shynes’s death brought the toll of slain troops in the ground offensive against Hamas and operations along the Gaza border to 316.

The IDF has been operating in Rafah, one of the last remaining Hamas strongholds, since early May.

The commander of one of the infantry brigades taking part in the Rafah operation told The Times of Israel and other reporters last week that the army expects to wrap up that operation within a month.


'Snakes and Ladders': IDF recovers children's game encouraging terrorism in Gaza
IDF soldiers located a 'Snakes and Ladders' board game intended for children that was being used to convey information about key targets for terrorist attacks on Israeli cities, the military reported on Friday, along with images of the finding.

Soldiers of the Nahal Reconnaissance Battalion found the board game while operating in the Rafah area of Gaza.

The board game shows pictures of missiles and tanks on top of different locations throughout the country.

There is also imagery of Hamas terrorists going through tunnels to indicate to players to move backward on the board.

In additional searches in the area, the soldiers also located many weapons in residential buildings.

Room full of weapons uncovered
Among the weapons found were grenades, explosives, and timers for activating explosives. Footage released by the IDF showed a room filled with various types of weaponry.

A large amount of evidence has been collected as part of the IDF's ongoing military campaign against Hamas in Gaza that Israel argues proves the indoctrination of children from a young age to hate Israel and Jews.

In January, the IDF published collated photos and videos showing children undergoing military training, posing with weapons, and even simulated drills in a mock tunnel.


US humanitarian aid pier to be removed, Pentagon won't commit to it being reestablished
The Pentagon announced on Friday afternoon it was removing the humanitarian aid pier from its anchored position in Gaza for a third time in the nearly six weeks it's been operational due to high sea states expected over the weekend.

It's unclear if Central Command will re-anchor the pier once the weather conditions pass as the marshalling area ashore has become overloaded with delivered aid that's been unable to reach the people of Gaza as UN partnering organizations suspended operations due to safety concerns more than two weeks ago.

Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon's deputy press secretary, said the majority of the marshalling area is "pretty full" but it's not yet at capacity.

There's still some room there, she said.

Enabling aid distribution in Gaza
"But we do need to see that marshalling yard open up to allow for aid groups to continue that distribution so that we can get more aid in as we get from Cyprus," Singh said, noting the Pentagon and USAID has been in conversation with the UN and World Food Program. "We want to see that distribution pick back up."

Since President Joe Biden announced the creation of the pier in March the Pentagon has maintained it was meant to supplement the aid entering Gaza through land routes.

In the meantime while aid is not flowing the way it should through the land crossings, we're going to continue moving aid over the pier, she added.


Gallant: Israel committed to hostage deal despite Hamas
The Israeli defense minister said he had met twice this week with Amos Hochstein, the U.S. special presidential coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security who has been the Biden administration’s point man on negotiations with Lebanon and, via intermediaries, Hezbollah.

“We have eliminated over 400 Hezbollah terrorists over the past months,” Gallant said. “Hezbollah understands very well that we can inflict massive damage in Lebanon if a war is launched.”

“We do not want war, but Hezbollah is playing a dangerous game and we will not tolerate attacks on our citizens, and tens of thousands of Israelis displaced from their homes,” he said.

“The goal is to bring our citizens back home safely,” Gallant added. “We prefer to do it via understandings, but we are preparing for every possible scenario.”

“We have the ability to take Lebanon back to the stone age, but we don’t want to do it,” he said.

Gallant also addressed Israel’s plans for Gaza.

“The only solution for the future of Gaza is governance by local Palestinians,” he said. “It cannot be Israel and cannot be Hamas.”

“I have been working on a day-after proposal that has three levels and includes regional partners, the United States, and, of course, local Palestinian actors,” the defense minister said. “It is a long and complex process that depends on many things, including the international community, which must participate and not only criticize.”


Why Netanyahu Should Address Congress | Caroline Glick In-Focus
A New York Times article claiming to represent a diverse group of Israeli leadership asks Congress to disinvite Netanyahu. Does Netanyahu represent the will of the Israeli people?

Chapters
00:00 Introduction: Israel's Elites Upset with Netanyahu Speaking Before Congress
02:04 Netanyahu's Popularity and Support in Israel
07:41 The Far Left's Push for Ceasefire and Commission of Inquiry
13:28 The Obsession with Ousting Netanyahu


Caroline Glick joins John Burnett & Betsy McCaughey of Newsmax on Israel & the Biden-Trump debate.
Caroline Glick, former senior foreign policy advisor for Netanyahu and host of "The Caroline Glick Show" on JNS TV, joins John Burnett and Betsy McCaughey of First Edition, Newsmax TV, to discuss Israel, Erdogan's stand with Lebanon, the Middle East, the remaining hostages, tonight's Biden-Trump debate and the Jewish vote. June 27, 2024


The Israel Guys: Is Israel Trying to Secretly Annex the WEST BANK?
Here are a few headlines:
NEW YORK TIMES: Israeli Official Describes Secret Government Bid to Cement Control of West Bank
CNN: Far-right Israeli minister sets out plan to prevent West Bank from becoming part of a Palestinian state
TIMES OF ISRAEL: Smotrich recorded describing ‘mega-dramatic' plan for civilian control over West Bank

The question is: “Is the Israeli government secretly trying to Annex the West Bank?”


Jonny Gould's Jewish State: 152: Imshin returns: "Hezbollah isn't Hamas, it's much stronger. As a family, we're planning for war”.
Back by popular demand, Imshin returns to Jonny Gould’s Jewish State

Scroll back and listen to our first episode, an introduction to Imshin, real name, Jacqui Peleg.

Imshin’s feed on X with the famous hashtag, #TheGazaYouDontSee is a phenomenon of the social media era.

And what Jacqui achieves couldn’t have existed before Twitter, YouTube and TikTok.

Because such a specific subject via these video news sources, couldn’t have been so constantly delivered in real time. It’s now so readily available via the socials.

So Jacqui lifts the lid on the real lives of Gazans, through their own eyes, via thousands of videos shot by Gazans themselves.

And as a news source, it’s impeccable, complete transparency of source.

Jacqui lives in Tel Aviv, and grew up in Liverpool before making Aliyah with her family as a child.

But now there’s the threat of a second front opening. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Israelis from the north and the south are living in hotels in the middle of the country.

As the threat of an escalation in the north hangs over the rest of Israel, we talk more about how the wars affect Israelis at home and preparation for a wider conflict.


Strong black support for NY to unmask Hamas supporters
A coalition of faith and civil leaders is demanding that New York State reinstate its law banning wearing masks in public places after months of violent anti-Israel protesters wearing face coverings.

The campaign, called Unmask NY, has garnered the support of Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City.

“New York City will always defend your right to free speech and will continue to protect public health, but we are increasingly seeing masked protestors using anonymity to intimidate, threaten and break the law,” Adams said on Thursday. “This behavior is unacceptable, and we will not tolerate it.”

The mayor spoke outside of Columbia University’s campus, which was the site of a pro-Hamas encampment this spring where protesters, many of them masked, intimidated and harassed Jewish students and other members of the Columbia community.

Also attended the press conference were New York State Assembly members from three of the city’s five boroughs; National Urban League president Marc Morial; Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of Anti-Defamation League; Mount Neboh Baptist Church pastor Johnnie Green; representatives of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York; and the UJA-Federation of New York also attended the press conference.

Several black leaders supported the measure—a notable development after some American Jewish leaders have remarked on what they called a lack of support for U.S. Jews from black Americans since Oct. 7.
‘Horrifying display of hate,’ Baltimore mayor says of rise in Jew-hatred
Recent instances of Jew-hatred in Baltimore are “despicable,” and those responsible will be held accountable, Brandon Scott, the city’s mayor, stated on Thursday.

“These recent incidents are a horrifying display of hate and simply will not be tolerated in the City of Baltimore,” Scott said. “Our Baltimore Jewish community has endured violence, vandalism and other acts of hate that only seek to intimidate and threaten.”

The mayor said that the city stands with the victims “who have endured these acts and with the broader Jewish community who are deeply impacted by the concerning rise in these types of incidents.”

Richard Worley, the Baltimore police commissioner, stated that the department has seen an “alarming increase of hate crimes towards our Jewish community, to include antisemitism speech, vandalism, intimidation and even violence.”

“We will not tolerate any form of hate, towards any community or any person in our city,” he said. “Any individual found to be responsible will and must be held accountable, and we will work with our local, state and federal partners to pursue justice to the fullest extent of the law for these incidents.”

Last week, WBFF, a Fox affiliate in Baltimore, reported that “Baltimore’s Jewish community is struggling with a soaring number of antisemitic acts.” And WBAL-TV, a Baltimore NBC affiliate, reported on Thursday that antisemitic graffiti was found vandalizing Jewish homes earlier in the week.

“This can’t be tolerated,” Howard Libit, executive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council, said, per WBAL-TV. “We need to stand together as minority communities against this hate.”




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

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