Friday, July 12, 2024

07/12 Links Pt1: Michal Herzog: We Cannot Give Up on the Women Abducted From Israel; IDF finds Hamas, PIJ war rooms, drones, explosives, in Gaza City UNRWA HQ

From Ian:

Michal Herzog: We Cannot Give Up on the Women Abducted From Israel
At the nine-month mark since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel and abducted more than 200 people, among them life-loving young women snatched from a music festival, mothers taken from their beds, sisters and daughters ripped from the optimism and vitality of their youth and their lives, we must ask: What has happened to our humanity? Our capacity for empathy for the hostages as well as the innocent women and girls of Gaza? Our ethical intuition? Our sense of allegiance and responsibility to these women hostages?

In the horrifying footage of their capture on Oct. 7, 2023, from the Nahal Oz base, 18- and 19-year-old girls are bound hand and foot and faced against the wall, passive objects in the hands of their captors. “You are so beautiful,” leers one at a young woman, as he binds her hands, kneeling. “Here are the females,” said another, invoking an ISIS idiom. The intimation is clear. And it touches every chord of horror available to the human experience.

The medieval brutality of the Hamas invasion into Israel on Oct. 7, widely documented, indeed seems to belong to a different era. But it hits notes of fear and terror that are so primal, so visceral, so chillingly familiar to us women. Millennia of vulnerability have been encoded in our bodies. We can conjure in our imaginations the darkest images of women captured in war, paraded through the streets as trophies, kept in cages, subject to every whim of their captors. It is a reality in which the darkest and most brutal of human impulses are laid bare. There is no moderating or civilizing force. This should alarm every single one of us. The significance of this particular brand of violence against women, of the reported ongoing crimes against the female hostages in Gaza, is that the rule of law, so carefully put in place over centuries of progress, is being actively disregarded and defiled.

We need to face the facts. This weaponizing of women’s bodies, this weaponizing of sexual assault and rape in warfare since Oct. 7, has taken the entire human race many steps backward. Civilization is failing these captives right now. And it is failing every one of us.

Where is the public outcry? Where is the outrage? Where is the vocal conviction, across the board, that this type of violence against women is unacceptable and will not pass in silence? Where is the voice—broken and piercing and fierce—on behalf of these women? On behalf of civilization? Where is the demand, wall to wall, that they must be brought home now?

I know well the primal vulnerability that comes with being a woman and a mother, but I also know about the primal power that these roles carry. I, along with millions of other women, haven’t given up. Not on these young women. And not on our humanity. I call upon every person to speak out for all the hostages—women and men—still being held by terrorists and help bring them home.
Seth Frantzman: Return to Be'eri: What I learned from visits to Be’eri since Oct. 7
Unanswered questions
I went back to Be’eri a third time during a short trip to the Gaza border. I didn’t realize how far the border actually was from the kibbutz. However, it was a drive along a dirt road. This was the area where soldiers access the Netzarim corridor which is controlled by the IDF south of Gaza city. The landscape was festooned with soldiers making their way back and forth.

However, I tried to imagine how the terrorists had been able to conquer the kibbutz. They had arrived at the front gate. Had they also traversed this area, the mile and a half to the border? Or had they come directly from route 232 via another opening in the fence? It was then that I realized Be’eri is not that close to the Gaza border, compared to places like Nahal Oz, Kfar Aza or Magen. It’s more than a short walking distance from the border, it would take time.

The IDF’s inquiry has revealed a lot of what was already felt about the response on October. There weren't enough soldiers. They didn’t have plans for what to do in case of numerous infiltrations along twenty miles of border. There were no reserve forces. The response was slow. In fact at Be’eri it was very slow. It took until 13:30 to bring up any serious forces and even when they arrived they arrived piecemeal and it took time to bring them to bare against the enemy.

Soldiers left to fight alone
The chaos of October 7 is not shocking when one understands what happens to military units when they are overrun and face a situation they are not prepared for. Military units work well when they are cohesive and there is a chain of command. They can perform well even if they are on their own but they have initiative and have enough forces. They don’t perform well when there are a handful of soldiers who show up from numerous units without commanders or orders. They don’t perform well when they are used to having air support and a mass of intelligence and are thrown in, basically in the dark in terms of intelligence, into a battle they never expected and their air support is not there.

The disaster at Be’eri is a symbol of the state in general. This country has always survived in a difficult neighborhood by being prepared and planning for the worst and keeping its enemies deterred. It became complacent over the last decades. We’ve seen this before. Israel slouched into the 2006 war in Lebanon also unprepared. However, in that war the enemy was not inside the gates. The goal of Israel’s leaders since the early days of Zionism was to create self-protection units because any time the enemy got inside the gates there would be a massacre. This is what happened in 1920 in 1929 and in the 1930s. Israel’s early leaders always preferred to strike the first blow and fight on the enemy’s territory. Israel became complacent and let the enemy grow to strong and it let the enemy enter into places like Be’eri.

Be’eri represents what will happen here if the country continues down a path of arrogance and complacency. In northern Israel the communities were evacuated because of a sense they could not be protected. This is a betrayal of a policy going back to Ben-Gurion of defending communities, not retreating. Israel has sent the message to Iran and its proxies that Israel is willing to evacuate and this feeds their assertion that Israel is a temporary state. Israel must return to the north and return to the borders of Gaza and stop the retreating. The army must learn from this disaster and where necessary people must be held accountable.
Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans pass measure to claw back UNRWA funding with no support from Democrats
The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday split along party lines on a bill seeking to rescind U.S. funding previously provided to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency before the administration and Congress froze funding to the U.N. body earlier this year.

All but four Democrats on the committee also opposed a bill penalizing the U.N. for granting the Palestinians enhanced status.

The UNRWA bill, led by Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Chris Smith (R-NJ), would instruct the secretary of state to seek to rescind any funds previously allocated to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency — before funding to the agency was frozen — that have not yet been utilized by UNRWA.

Mast suggested during the committee meeting that the administration had deliberately waited to halt funding to UNRWA in January until after it had distributed an additional tranche of funds to the agency, adding that the problems with the U.N. agency continue — pointing to a recent IDF raid on an UNRWA facility in Gaza City allegedly being used by Hamas.

“UNRWA is an entity that has been a part of supporting hatred against Jews, against Israel, a part of facilitating attacks, holding hostages,” Mast said, outlining UNRWA’s history of ties to Hamas and promotion of antisemitism in its schools.

Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the top Democrat on the committee, said he opposed the bill because UNRWA remains a critical part of aid distribution in Gaza and elsewhere in the region, which cannot currently be replaced, and because the bill could further damage UNRWA’s already precarious finances.

“This bill is the definition of really kicking someone while they are down,” Meeks said. “This is a measure that the State Department did not ask for, and does not advance the U.S. interests in peace and stability and humanitarian aid.”

Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) demanded that Congress “stop punishing those who are doing God’s work in the most ungodly of places.”


Biden indicates Israel can pursue Hamas leadership after war, which ‘should end now’
In a much-anticipated news conference following the end of the NATO Summit in Washington on Thursday, US President Joe Biden appeared to suggest that ending the war in Gaza would not mean Israel would have to stop going after Hamas’s leadership.

The 81-year-old president, who is under intense scrutiny due to concerns about his chances of reelection following his weak debate performance last month, urged Israel to bring the fighting in Gaza to an end and revealed that the plan he is pushing for the post-war management of the Palestinian enclave will pave the way for a two-state solution.

“It’s time to end this war,” Biden said, addressing Israel. “It doesn’t mean walk away from going after [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar and Hamas.”

While US officials privately told the Times of Israel in May that the administration would still support Israel going after Hamas’s leadership after the war is over, this appeared to be the furthest Washington has gone in saying as much publicly.

The president’s news conference appeared to start on shaky footing after Biden mixed up the names of Vice President Kamala Harris and his opponent, former president Donald Trump, in response to a query about his confidence in Harris.

“I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if she was not qualified to be president,” he said.

The error followed an earlier blunder from the president, who had mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin.”

“And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination, ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden had said, referring to Zelensky, before correcting himself.

“Going to beat President Putin, President Zelensky. I am so focused on beating Putin,” Biden quickly corrected himself to the sound of gasps.


G7 leaders denounce Israeli ‘expansion of settlements’
The G7 released a statement on Thursday criticizing Israeli expansion in Judea and Samaria.

“The government of Israel’s settlement program is inconsistent with international law and counterproductive to the cause of peace,” stated the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union high representative.

“We also reject the decision by the government of Israel to declare over 1,270 hectares of land in the West Bank as ‘state lands’—the largest such declaration of state land since the Oslo Accords—and the decision to expand existing settlements in the occupied West Bank by 5,295 new housing units and to establish three new settlements,” the leaders stated. (The United States and many other countries refer to Judea and Samaria as “the West Bank.”)

The statement did not mention that many Israeli citizens have been displaced from their homes since Oct. 7, including due to Hezbollah attacks in the north.
World Court to deliver opinion on Israeli 'occupation' of Palestinian territories on July 19
The International Court of Justice will deliver its opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's 'occupation' of Palestinian territories on July 19, the ICJ said on Friday.

A record 52 countries presented arguments at what is also known as the World Court about the legal ramifications of Israel's actions in the territories in February after the UN General Assembly asked the ICJ in 2022 for an advisory, non-binding, opinion.

While Israel has ignored such opinions in the past, the ICJ ruling next week could add political pressure over its devastating nine-month-old war against Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The UN-affiliated ICJ is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between nations and it gives advisory opinions on international legal issues.


NATO’s Rogue State
Turkey continues to undermine U.S., Israeli, and Western interests. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan must stop supporting Russia, cease undermining the NATO alliance, and end backing for Hamas. This week’s NATO summit in Washington, DC, provides an ideal opportunity for Turkey to show that it seeks to mend its ways. If Erdogan fails to act, the U.S. Congress must punish Ankara.

Turkey’s destabilizing policies are manifold. First and foremost, Erdogan postponed Sweden’s ascension to NATO in order to extract concessions from the alliance. These included a deal with Washington earlier this year to purchase F-16 fighter jets. Only five years earlier, America had kicked Turkey out of the F-35 advanced fighter jet program. Yet, Erdogan subsequently conditioned his approval of Sweden’s NATO membership on Ankara’s acquisition of new fighter jets from Washington. The F-16 sale thus constituted a compromise: Turkey already operated F-16 fighters, so Washington was merely expanding Ankara’s fleet. However, Turkey’s malign conduct should preclude any further arms deal with the United States.

Turkey has expanded its military in other ways, too. Ankara purchased the Russian S-400 air defense system, which poses a threat to U.S. air superiority, including the F-35 planes that make up the bulk of the U.S. flying force. In a related development, Erdogan sold drone parts to Iran even as Turkey built a drone factory in Ukraine, effectively playing both sides of Moscow’s war to secure additional cash for Turkish manufacturers and exporters.

Erdogan has also fueled the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The events of October 7, 2023, have accentuated Ankara’s longtime support of Hamas. Alarmingly, Erdogan did not condemn the terrorist group’s atrocities. Instead, Turkey has continued to serve as a base of Hamas operations and fundraising. Israel’s Shin Bet security service recently thwarted a Hamas terror attack organized and financed in Turkey that would have resulted in mass casualties of Israelis.

In this context, Congress has several tools at its disposal for addressing an increasingly radical Turkey. In particular, Erdogan’s close relationship with Moscow has left Turkey vulnerable to U.S. sanctions that could limit the political insulation Turkey receives from its membership in NATO. To facilitate these sanctions, Congress should require the intelligence community to compile a list of Turkish economic sectors, including financial institutions and manufacturing companies, that support the Russian war effort.

Congress and the Biden administration can also undermine Turkey’s support for Hamas. As part of a supplemental appropriations bill signed into law in April, Congress adopted the language of the Hamas and Other Palestinian Terrorist Groups International Financing Prevention Act, which provides new authorities to target individuals, entities, and foreign states that provide material support for Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups. The legislation thus enables Washington to sanction international financial networks and government officials—in Turkey and beyond—who enrich Hamas.
Erdogan says Turkey will not approve NATO attempts to cooperate with Israel
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday it is not possible for NATO to continue its partnership with the Israeli administration.

"Until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Turkey," Erdogan said at a news conference at the NATO summit.

Turkey also continues its diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, he said.

Erdogan said as well that he has instructed Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to start to restore relations with Syria.

Turkey will extend an invitation to Assad "any time" for possible talks to restore relations between the two neighbors, Erdogan had said on Sunday.

Regarding F-16 sales to Turkey, Erdogan said: "I talked to Mr. Biden. 'I will solve this problem in 3-4 weeks' he said'."

In March, the US Senate defeated an effort to stop a $23 billion sale of F-16 jets and modernization kits to Turkey allowed by President Joe Biden's administration after Turkey approved Sweden joining the NATO alliance.
US complicit in Israeli ‘massacres,’ Erdoğan says in DC
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan denounced the United States on Wednesday for what he claimed was its complicity in “massacres” committed by Israel Defense Forces troops battling Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

Answering written questions posed by Newsweek as he touched down on American soil for the annual summit of NATO, of which Ankara is a member, Erdoğan accused the IDF of “the brutal murder of innocent people.”

“The U.S. administration, however, disregards these violations and provides Israel with the most support,” said the Turkish leader.

Turkey, which has hosted a Hamas headquarters since 2012, has given full backing to the Palestinian terrorist organization in the aftermath of its Oct. 7 massacre of some 1,200 people in Israel.

Erdoğan told Newsweek on Wednesday that Palestinians in the coastal enclave are “simply defending their homes, streets and homeland.

“What is between Israel and Gaza is not war,” he continued. “Israel has been treating Gaza as an open-air prison for years. They are usurping Palestinians of their homes, businesses, and farmlands throughout Palestinian territory using thieving terrorists they call settlers.”

(In the summer of 2005, Israel under the government headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon unilaterally disengaged from Gaza, withdrawing every soldier and civilian, expelling thousands of Israelis from their homes.)

“For years, Israel has engaged in systematic state terrorism,” Erdoğan said. “What happened to the resolution of UNSC for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza? Israel did not even bother, let alone enforce it. At this juncture, who will impose what kind of sanction against Israel for violating international law? That is the real question and no one is answering that.”


Netanyahu reiterates ‘red lines’ for hostage deal with Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday reiterated Jerusalem’s “red lines” for the hostage-for-ceasefire-and-terrorists-release agreement being negotiated with Hamas.

Netanyahu outlined four principles that he would “strongly uphold” during ongoing talks, as they are “essential for the security of Israel.”

1. Any [deal] must allow Israel to return to fighting until all the objectives of the war are achieved.
2. We will not allow the smuggling of weapons to Hamas from Egypt, first and foremost through Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Crossing.
3. We will not allow the return of armed terrorists and the entry of war materiel to the northern Gaza Strip. Only this way will the achievements that we have made by an unyielding fight and with the precious blood of our soldiers be preserved.
4. I insist that the maximum number of living hostages be released in the first stage of the outline.

“These are our ironclad principles,” said Netanyahu. “I am certain that if we insist on them we will achieve a deal that will both free our hostages and ensure that we will continue to fight until all of our objectives have been achieved.”

The prime minister has presented these “tough” demands because he is “trying to use Hamas’s weakness to get as much as he can out of the negotiations,” an Israeli official involved in the talks told Axios on Thursday.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Thursday that “the signs are more positive today than they have been in recent weeks,” and that the gaps between the parties “can be resolved and should be resolved.

“We see progress. We see the possibility of reaching an agreement. I can’t guarantee that because there’s a lot of details to be hammered through,” added Sullivan.


Netanyahu refutes Reuter's claim Israel intends to withdraw from Gaza-Egypt border
The Prime Minister intends to maintain its presence at the Philadelphi Corridor, the Prime Minister's office posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday, following an exclusive report on Reuters claiming Israel is discussing the possibility of withdrawing from said area.

Israeli and Egyptian ceasefire negotiators are allegedly in talks about an electronic surveillance system along the border between Gaza and Egypt that could allow Israel to pull back its troops from the area if a ceasefire is agreed, according to two Egyptian sources and a third source familiar with the matter.

The question of whether Israeli forces stay on the border is one of the issues blocking a potential ceasefire deal because both the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and Egypt, a mediator in the talks, are opposed to Israel keeping its forces there.

According to Reuter's report, Israel is worried that if its troops leave the border zone, referred to by Israel as the Philadelphi corridor, Hamas' armed wing could smuggle in weapons and supplies from Egypt into Gaza via tunnels that would allow it to re-arm and threaten Israel again.

A surveillance system, if the parties to the negotiations agree on the details, could smooth the path to agreeing on a ceasefire - though numerous other stumbling blocks remain.

Discussions around a surveillance system on the border have been reported before, but Reuters is reporting for the first time that Israel is engaging in the discussions as part of the current round of talks, allegedly intending to pull back forces from the border area.

The source familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the discussions are about "basically sensors that would be built on the Egyptian side of the Philadelphi [corridor]. "
‘Hamas will not accept a hostage deal if Israel can resume the fight’
“Steady progress.” Those are the words one hears from all sides involved in the renewed attempts to forge a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

The efforts began after Hamas dropped its demand that Israel agree to end the war in the first stage of the proposed framework, which is to last 42 days and lead to the release of 33 hostages—not all of them alive.

‘An end to the war’
Hamas did indeed declare that it is dropping its demand for a complete halt to the war already during the first phase of the framework, the so-called humanitarian phase. But this is only partly true, because Hamas has a new demand, that on day 42, after the first phase of the hostage deal ends, negotiations will start on phase 2, and will continue until a deal is reached—all the while as Israel continues to hold its fire in Gaza.

“Hamas demands guarantees from the mediators, including the U.S., that Israel will not return to fighting, that the negotiations for phase 2 (in which the terrorist group would be expected to release the soldiers and the corpses) will last forever,” Uzi Rabi, director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, tells JNS.

“I believe that Hamas will not go to a deal in the event that Israel can return to fight. Hamas is afraid because Israel is continuing its operation in Gaza and time is currently not in its favor, because Israel is not facing international pressure. And so it is trying something different here,” Rabi says.

The Rafah Crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor
“In every scenario, Israel will continue to control the Rafah border crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week.

“What exactly did he mean?” one foreign diplomat asked JNS. “It sounds very vague to me. He can’t say Israel won’t leave them, because then the talks will break down, and he can’t say Israel will leave them, for political reasons. So everyone can hear what he wants to hear.”

These two strategic areas in the southern Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt, have been a crucial lifeline for Hamas. Underneath them are massive tunnels that allowed the transfer of weapons and ammunition. The Rafah border crossing was Hamas’s economic connection to the outside world, allowing the terrorist government to exact money for every truck entering the Gaza Strip.
'A change in Hamas's position': Commentator says Sinwar feeling pressure to make a deal
Yediot Aharonot's Arab affairs comentator Avi Issacharoff was interviewed recently on Udi Segal and Anat Davidov's program on 103FM radio to discuss Hamas's position on a hostage deal.

Issacharoff began by stating, "There has been a change in Hamas's position. They are showing a willingness to go to an agreement without knowing in advance if we go to a complete ceasefire. Hamas no longer demands what it demanded at the beginning. There is flexibility. There are several considerations here, one of which is the military pressure taking its toll. Hamas is not immune to social pressure, so it may be that they are ready for some kind of easy compromise."

Issacharoff added that "the mediators, Egypt and Qatar, with the encouragement of the Americans, are putting a lot of pressure on Hamas. The bottom line is that it seems to me that Sinwar realizes that he reached a certain peak a few months ago in terms of achievements and in the opinion of the international public, and now he is starting to see a decline. The same demonstrations in Europe influenced the opinion of the international audience."

Will Netanyahu's political motivations outweigh a potential deal?
"You can understand the considerations and the pressure on the prime minister's side. What can be done? There are 120 hostages here that we want to return home alive, and there are prices that we have to pay. I am sure that if Netanyahu wants, he will do it. I am sure that he can find a creative solution to prevent the leakage of weapons from Egypt to Gaza, even without the physical presence of the IDF on the ground. The question is whether he actually wants to see a deal or if he has other political considerations. My feeling is that his political motivations will outweigh the consideration of completing a deal."

In conclusion, Issacharoff said, "In the end, the prime minister has to make a very difficult decision as to whether he is going to carry through with a hostage deal or keep his coalition both among the people who are involved in the talk, and among the people who come from the opposite political camp. They say that Netanyahu won't agree to a deal. In the end, his political consideration will prevail here."
FDD: IDF releases its first probe into October 7 failures as the Shejaiya raid ends
The Israel Defense Forces IDF) released the first of what is expected to be numerous inquiries into specific battles and operational failures that took place during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The first inquiry focuses on the battle for Kibbutz Beeri, where Hamas killed 101 civilians and took 30 hostages. Along with the massacre at the Nova Music Festival and attacks on several other Kibbutzim along the border, Beeri experienced one of the worst death tolls in a single location on October 7.

The findings were released during 40 hours of intense activity on multiple fronts for the IDF and Israel. Israeli forces ended a two-week battle in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Shejaiya on July 10, having eliminated 150 terrorists and destroyed eight tunnels.

Led by 98th Division paratroopers and the 7th Armored Brigade, the sweep of Shejaiya exemplified Israel’s raiding strategy, where forces return to neighborhoods several times to reduce terrorist capabilities. The reduction in capabilities of Hamas and other groups is evident from the Israeli troops’ increased use of thin-skinned and open-topped vehicles such as Humvees, a detail noted by journalists who visited the area.

As the operation in Shejaiya was completed, the IDF also sent its 99th Division into northern Gaza neighborhoods around the Gaza City center. Among the targets of the raid was the UNRWA headquarters, where the IDF said terrorist operatives were embedded. “Over the past day, the troops located large quantities of weapons in the area of the headquarters, including explosive drones, grenades, explosive devices, snipers, mortar shells, rockets, and RPGs,” the IDF said on July 10.

IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi HaLevi met with Brigadier General Barak Hiram, the commander of the 99th Division, on July 9 and contrasted the operations in Gaza City with those in Shejaiya and southern Gaza. “We go on the missions to destroy as much [terrorist] infrastructure as possible, to eliminate as many Hamas operatives as possible, to eliminate as many commanders as possible. In the end, it reduces Hamas’ capabilities, allows us to advance with the achievements, allows us to carry out a very important mission: pressure,” Halevi said.

Hamas is feeling this pressure in terms of the reduction of its forces in Gaza. On July 10, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that 60 percent of Hamas terrorists have been eliminated in nine months of fighting. He claimed that most of the 24 Hamas battalions that existed on October 7 have been defeated.

However, it is clear Hamas still has a significant presence in some areas of Gaza. In central Gaza, for instance, the IDF carried out airstrikes on July 10, targeting two Hamas commanders. They included Hassan Abu Kuik, head of operational security in Hamas’s Internal Security Forces in the Gaza Central Camps, and Naser Mehanna, a team commander in Hamas military intelligence.


US would have responded with ‘overwhelming force’ if placed in Israel’s shoes
Modern War Institute John Spencer has questioned what an American response to Hamas would be if it had been in Israel’s shoes.

Mr Spencer told Sky News host Erin Molan that the response would be “overwhelming force”.

He said the US would use force “immediately” to achieve its goals.




Israel: ‘No role for UNRWA in Gaza’ as agency hires Hamas by hundreds
The Prime Minister’s Office slammed the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees a day after Israel’s Foreign Ministry revealed that the aid agency is employing hundreds of terrorists.

The Foreign Ministry attached a list of the names and ID numbers of 108 UNRWA employees who are also Hamas terrorists in a letter to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini on Wednesday.

It was a “small fraction” of a much larger list including hundreds of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) members who also worked for UNRWA, the letter said. The wider list could not be released due to security considerations.

“Israel has told donor countries that hundreds more of UNRWA’s 13,000 local staff are active Hamas terrorists, including school teachers,” Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told members of the press on Thursday following the revelations.

“We have provided much evidence that UNRWA works hand-in-hand with Hamas,” he said, referring to the discovery of a Hamas server farm underneath UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City, the UNRWA employees who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre and the Hamas tunnels underneath UNRWA schools, among other examples.

“We gave this evidence again and again to UNRWA. Israel also sent the names to countries that fund UNRWA. Many like the U.S. and the U.K. froze their funding to UNRWA,” he said.
IDF finds Hamas, PIJ war rooms, drones, explosives, in Gaza City UNRWA HQ
During raids over the last week on a Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad combat complex embedded in a former UNRWA compound, troops of the Commando Brigade’s combat team, operating under the direction of the 99th Division, located significant terror infrastructure embedded in the facility.

Among the weapons and infrastructure located in the UNRWA complex were war rooms used for surveillance operations, parts for UAV assembly, tactical drones, rockets, machine guns, mortars, explosives, and grenades, the IDF added.

Terror infrastructure in a university
In other scans of the vicinity, during the army's ongoing operational activity in the area, soldiers reportedly discovered a subterranean weapons and explosives manufacturing facility inside a university building.

On Wednesday, the IDF reported that troops of the 99th Division had, after opening an evacuation route for civilians, engaged and killed terrorists operating on the Gaza City UNRWA headquarters premises in close-quarters combat.

Other terrorists were arrested by the Israeli personnel.

On Monday, the IDF first reported that the operation on the facility began the previous night and was jointly conducted by the 99th Division and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). At the time, the military had reported that it operated on intelligence, indicating the presence of terror infrastructure in the area.

Troops had previously located a terror tunnel running beneath the facility that had served as a major Hamas military intelligence asset, the IDF added.


Attacks on Red Sea shipping bankrupt Israeli port
Eilat is situated on Israel’s southern coast on the Red Sea, linking the country to Asia and the Indian Ocean without the need to transit the Suez Canal, but its volumes had been in decline since a Q4 2022 spike saw the facility handle 124,000 tonnes, doubling its Q1 levels that year.

However, in a meeting with the Knesset’s Economic Affairs Committee on 7 July, CEO Gideon Golbert said there had been no activity at the port for eight months and no revenues coming in.

The port mainly handles bulk cargoes, potash and car imports as well as some containers is considerably smaller than the country’s Mediterranean ports of Ashdod and Haifa, but the effects of the Houthi attacks have clearly affected the Israeli trade.

On a broader scale the Houthi actions have diverted hundreds of container vessels every week on a much longer journey, some 4,000 miles longer, around the African cape to Europe, increasing the fuel costs, and emissions, with the first increment of the EU ETS introduced in January this year.

Conversely the Middle East conflict has given a significant boost to the secondhand container ship market, reports Alphaliner.

“Container sale and purchase deals surged again in the first half of 2024, as carriers and NOOs reacted to the red-hot charter and freight markets. After a slump in transactions in the second half of 2023, more than half a million teu of container tonnage changed hands in the first six months of 2024,” said the analyst.

As vessel operators “sought every available ship” in order to effectively meet the demand for the services travelling around the Cape of Good Hope and to maintain weekly schedules.
Shejaiya, springboard for Oct. 7 onslaught, lies in ruins
The proximity of Shejaiya’s easternmost houses to the Gaza border fence is startling; offering insight into how Hamas terrorists easily breached Israeli territory on Oct. 7. The area, once home to one of the terror group’s most formidable offensive units, now lies in ruins.

Our entry into eastern Shejaiya in unarmored Humvees speaks volumes about the IDF’s current control and Hamas’s diminished capabilities in the area. The need for heavily armored vehicles to transport civilians has been eliminated.

The surrounding landscape is utterly devastated. Few buildings remain standing, most reduced to skeletal remnants or piles of rubble. As in other areas where the IDF has operated, roads have been replaced by compacted dirt tracks for armored vehicles.

Historically one of Gaza City’s older neighborhoods, Shejaiya’s name, meaning “The brave ones,” refers to 13th-century casualties of Ayyubid-Crusader conflicts. This martial legacy seems to have endured, with the neighborhood serving as a Hamas terror stronghold and vital center for recruitment, tunneling and combat operations for decades.

The neighborhood’s low-rise outskirts quickly give way to taller structures, most severely damaged or destroyed. Amidst the ruins, we meet Lt. Col. Yonatan Schneider, commander of the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion.

Schneider’s familiarity with the area and his unit is evident. As he briefs journalists on local topography and Hamas regrouping attempts, a real-time demonstration unfolds. Suspicious targets are identified, requiring Schneider’s approval to neutralize the threat. He approves the strike with a shy smile, and explosions soon follow.
FDD Morning Brief | feat. FDD Sr. Fellow Jonathan Conricus & IDF Spox RADM Daniel Hagari (Jul. 12)
FDD Senior Fellow and former IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus delivers timely situational updates and analysis on the war in the Middle East, followed by a conversation with IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.


IAF strike kills Ayman Showadeh, Hamas's Shejaia Battalion deputy commander
An Israel Air Force strike killed Hamas's Shejaia Battalion deputy commander, Ayman Showadeh, the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced on Friday.

The IDF and Shin Bet noted that Showadeh had been involved in orchestrating Hamas's massacres in southern Israel on October 7 of last year.

The Hamas leader was reportedly also a major figure in the terror organization's Operations Headquarters.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas War, Showadeh has participated in the Shejaiya Battalion's combat activities and directed many assaults on Israeli troops.


Hezbollah drone kills IDF soldier in Western Galilee
An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed on Thursday in a Hezbollah drone strike near Kibbutz Kabri, the military announced on Friday morning.

The slain soldier, identified as Sgt. 1st Class (res.) Valeri Chefonov, 33, from Netanya, was a member of the 228th “Alon” Infantry Brigade.

The strike was part of a massive drone and rocket barrage fired at the Western Galilee. Hezbollah claimed responsibility, saying it was “in response to Israeli attacks in Southern Lebanon,” and aimed at the IDF’s Malikia post.

Kabri is around 2.5 miles east of the Mediterranean seaside city of Nahariya.

On Tuesday night, two Israelis were killed in a Hezbollah rocket barrage fired at the Golan Heights. The victims were identified as Noa and Nir Barnes, both aged 46, a couple from Kibbutz Ortal and the parents of three children. They were driving home when their vehicle was struck.

Hezbollah has attacked the Jewish state’s north nearly every day since Oct. 8, firing thousands of drones, rockets and anti-tank missiles at Israeli towns, killing more than 20 people and causing widespread damage.

The death toll among Israeli troops on all fronts since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre now stands at 682, according to official IDF data.


Hezbollah’s deadly attacks raise questions about new tactics
In the past seven days, two rocket attacks by Hezbollah targeting moving Israeli vehicles—one military and one civilian—in the Golan Heights have prompted a review within the Israel Defense Forces.

The attacks, which resulted in the deaths of a civilian couple on Wednesday and an IDF major on July 4, have raised serious questions about the operational capabilities of Hezbollah and local Israeli air defenses.

The first incident occurred on July 3, when a rocket struck a vehicle at a military camp, killing Maj. (res.) Itai Galea, 38, a deputy company commander in a reserve armored brigade.

Hezbollah launched the attack in response to an Israeli-targeted killing of senior Hezbollah commander Muhammad Nimah Nasser, head of the territorial Hezbollah Aziz Unit. Nasser was killed in an airstrike on his vehicle in the Tyre region of Southern Lebanon. Hezbollah fired more than 200 rockets and 20 drones at locations in the Galilee and the Golan Heights, with one rocket striking Galea’s vehicle.

On Tuesday, reports emerged that an airstrike in Syria on the Damascus-Beirut highway killed Hezbollah operative and former Hassan Nasrallah bodyguard Yasser Qarnabsh, with i24 News reporting that a second casualty of that attack was an officer of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Saudi state-owned Al Arabiya news channel reported on Wednesday that Qarnabash was responsible for transporting personnel and weapons to Syria.

Following that attack, Hezbollah unleashed a barrage of rockets targeting the Golan Heights on Tuesday, killing Israeli couple Noa and Nir Barnes, from Kibbutz Ortal in the northern Golan Heights. The attack left three children orphans.
Locals become firefighters as Israel’s northern forests burn
Huge swaths of scorched land with burned pinkish orange trees line the road through northern Israel’s Biriya Forest.

The strange color of the trees, which makes the area look like a forest from another planet, is the result of chemicals sprayed on them to prevent and slow flames.

The fires are the result of rockets and drones shot at Israel from Lebanon by Hezbollah.

The flames have burned nearly 5,000 acres of land in Israel’s North compared to the around 300 that burn in forest fires in an average year, said the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF). They expect this number to climb once closed military areas near the border are opened and they can survey the damage there.

This is a scope unlike anything KKL-JNF has seen in the forests they tend. They are working with Israel’s Fire and Rescue Authority, but locals are also pitching in to help, because their proximity means that they can be on the ground long before professional firefighters can arrive.

One of these citizens-turned-firefighters is Eitan Lebel, the owner of Bat-Ya’ar Farm – a local business that caters to groups and provides horseback and jeep rides as well as meals at a beautiful outdoor venue – and has been closed since October 8.

Founded by Lebel about 40 years ago, the farm is carved out of the forest, standing on land that used to hold only brush and trees.


Held in chains and on the verge of death: Inside the horrific 245-day ordeal of man, 27, held hostage by Hamas in Gaza - as sadistic guards from the terror group repeatedly threatened to kill him
A rescued hostage has told how he was kept chained up for months on end in Gaza as sadistic guards repeatedly threatened to kill him and his fellow captives.

Andrey Kozlov, 27, was held for 245 days by Hamas who would punish him by locking him in a squalid toilet or piling blankets on him in 40C heat if he disobeyed them.

He cried every day fearing he would die at any moment as the terrorists told fellow hostages Almog Meir-Jan, 21, and Shlomi Ziv, 40 they would put him 'in the grave'.

But suddenly on June 8 Israeli special forces burst into the apartment, killed the guards and rescued the three men alongside Noa Argamani, 26, who was held in a nearby building.

Today he becomes the first of the four captives to speak out as he starts his fight to save the 120 hostages who remain in Gaza.

'It's like I have come out of another planet, another universe,' Mr Kozlov tells the Daily Mail as he reflects on his freedom in Tel Aviv.

'It is like being on the other side of the mirror – on October 7 the whole world went upside down.'

The Russian sous-chef moved to Israel 18 months ago and was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival to earn more money when terrorists stormed the rave that day.

In the mayhem he was caught by Hamas who forced fellow hostage Shlomi to drive them into Gaza at gunpoint.

'For the first two days of captivity we were tied with hands behind our backs,' Mr Kozlov says.

'Then for two months we were tied up in chains, in front, hands 20cm apart, and legs 40cm apart. You go to the toilet like that, you sleep like that. The chains are noisy.

'Every day you feel that your life is almost over. You never know what they were going to do to you. Maybe they will kill you. Maybe they will do something else. Maybe you will be their slave.

'They threatened us. One of them had a big stick knife… I can't talk about it.'

Mr Kozlov was held with Almog and Shlomi for eights months and the three men were moved seven times – sometimes in broad daylight in full view of Palestinian civilians.

'They saw my eyes, I could tell,' he says of non-combatants. 'But they just didn't care. We walked straight past them.

'No-one asked if I was a hostage, they didn't care, they just walked by.'
Woman recalls daunting meeting with Hamas leader Sinwar in captivity
For 55 harrowing days, Sapir Cohen endured captivity at the hands of Hamas in Gaza.

Her ordeal began with her abduction from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7 and ended with her release in a swap for terrorists on Nov. 30, 2023. However, her partner, Alex (“Sasha”) Trufanov, who was kidnapped alongside her, remains in captivity, held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

In a revealing interview with Israel Hayom, Cohen recounts the terrifying moments of her abduction, her confinement in tunnels and homes of Hamas operatives, the constant fear of sexual assault, and the hope she drew from seeing demonstrations in Israel demanding the hostages’ release.

Perhaps most startling is her account of an unexpected and frightening conversation with none other than Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza.

“On day 51, a man who appeared to be a senior figure arrived and informed Sahar Calderon and Or Yaakov, my fellow captives, that they would be released the following day. He then turned to me and said I would be released too.

“One of the other captors mentioned that I was over 18, prompting him to ask if I was a soldier. When I said no, he inquired about my military service,” she said. “I felt my face turning red and found myself at a loss for words. Trying to recall what I had told my captors during the initial interrogation, I said I had been a clerk at the Kirya [military headquarters in Tel Aviv]. He asked if I served in the reserves, and when I again replied no, he simply turned and left.”

“It wasn’t until after my return to Israel that I realized the identity of the man who had spoken to me. It was Yahya Sinwar himself, the Hamas leader in Gaza.”

When asked what she would have said to Sinwar had she recognized him, Cohen replied, “I wouldn’t have asked anything.”


Call Me Back PodCast: Naftali Bennett, (former) Prime Minister
Hosted by Dan Senor
Today we sit down with one of the most interesting figures in Israeli public life, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who served as Israel’s 13th Prime Minister (2021-22), and previously, in a Netanyahu-led government as Defense Minister (2019-20), and earlier on as Economy Minister.

When he himself was prime minister, Naftali Bennett’s government was comprised of 8 political parties from across the ideological spectrum – from his own Yamina Party and the New Hope party on the Right, through Yair Lapid’s party in the center, to the Labor and Meretz parties on the Left. And then – for the first time in an Israeli Government – there was the Arab Muslim party, Ra’am. In his business career, Prime Minister Bennett was a successful start-up entrepreneur. And he served in Israel’s elite Sayaret Mechtel special forces.

In this long-form interview, we try to better understand Naftali Bennett’s worldview on a range of issues in Israel’s post-10/07 reality – its strategic situation as it faces multiple war fronts or possible war fronts, and we wanted to better understand his vision for addressing the growing internal Israeli tensions – within the Israeli public..
The Israel Guys: Who Will Govern Gaza the Day After the War? The US Has a plan!
In the latest news from the Israel and Hamas war, a Washington Post article claims that Israel and Hamas have both agreed that in the second phase of the ceasefire deal, neither Hamas nor Israel would govern Gaza. Instead, security would be handled by a force trained by the United States and supported by moderate Arab allies. The US already tried this approach back in 2005 under the Bush Administration and it turned out to be a miserable failure. What, if any, lessons have we learned since then?




ADL: ‘End Zionism’ protest at Michigan Holocaust museum scapegoats Jews
An anti-Israel Holocaust survivor and like-minded groups plan to hold a protest against the Jewish state on Sunday outside of the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills, Mich.

“We demand the Holocaust museum take a stand against genocide and oppression, make a statement supporting a ceasefire and divest from companies funding Israel’s human-rights violations,” according to a flier that Jewish Voice for Peace and others shared on social media.

The event, organized by the Coalition Against Genocide—whose website appeared to be last updated in 2014—is guilty of “scapegoating U.S. Jews and the Zekelman Holocaust Center by holding them responsible for another nation’s actions is antisemitism,” the Anti-Defamation League’s Michigan office stated. “Full stop.”

Sacha Roytman, CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement, stated that protesting outside the museum, “a place honoring the memory of Holocaust victims and survivors, is blatant antisemitism.”

“The museum tells the story of the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis,” he added. “It has no connection to current Middle East conflicts or U.S. foreign policy, and by targeting this memorial the demonstrators are revealing their true colors: unadulterated hatred of Jews masked as pro-Palestinian activism.”
What happened when the JC dropped in on the plumber who won’t serve ‘Zionists’
A London plumber who refused to serve “Zionists” claims he was unwittingly involved in an Isis terror plot which saw his brother imprisoned and believes it is “legitimate” for Israeli soldiers to be killed, the JC can reveal.

Adam Loxley, 37, who emerged sporting a long beard and an Islamic robe when tracked down by this newspaper to an address in Walthamstow, was arrested in 2015 after he was sent by an Islamic State fundraiser to collect a donation for the terror group.

Loxley, also known as Omar Abdullah Bal, denies he knew the errand was linked to Isis and was later released without charge.

But when questioned about his views this week, Loxley doubled down, justifying his decision not to serve “Zionists” by claiming he was afraid of getting into a disagreement about his anti-Zionist views.

He also defended Hamas, denied that mass rapes were committed on October 7 and insisted that Palestinians had the “right to resist”.

“In the West Bank and Gaza, I believe it’s legitimate that you can kill soldiers,” he said.

Loxley, who was exposed last week by this newspaper for vetting customers on their degree of allegiance to the Jewish state, also claimed that Israel was acting like Nazi Germany. “I feel that [the Holocaust] has been hijacked in some senses to justify what’s in essence colonialism,” he said.

In 2015, Loxley was directed by his electrician brother, Hassan Bal, to pick up what Hassan believed to be £1,000 in cash earmarked for Isis. In reality, it was an A to Z map of London that an undercover Mail on Sunday journalist had dropped off.
Popular airline hit with backlash over tweet about flight attendants wearing Palestinian flag pins, issues groveling apology
Delta Airlines faced intense backlash after the company’s social media account said it would be “terrified” if flight attendants wore a Palestinian flag pin, forcing it to issue a groveling apology.

On Wednesday, an X user posted two photos of Delta flight attendants wearing Palestinian flag pins, which were incorrectly described as “Hamas badges,” during the flights — prompting a response from the airline.

“I hear you as I’d be terrified as well, personally,” the airline wrote in a post. “Our employees reflect our culture and we do not take it lightly when our policy is not being followed.”

Delta, which boasts over 1.6 million followers on the platform, deleted the post the following day and demoted the worker.

“Delta removed a mistakenly posted comment on X Wednesday because it was not in line with our values and our mission to connect the world,” the airline told The Post in a statement.

“The team member responsible for the post has been counseled and no longer supports Delta’s social channels. We apologize for this error.”

A Delta spokesperson said the two staffers were being offered support, according to the Hill.

Later that day, the airline announced a blanket ban on staff members wearing any flag badges, except the American flag, starting July 15.




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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 20 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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