Friday, August 02, 2024
Elder of ZiyonThe assailants who pulled off the mysterious killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh this week in Tehran did so by getting a bomb into his heavily guarded room at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps guesthouse, people familiar with the circumstances said.The use of a bomb to carry out the killing shows a significant intelligence and operational capability within Iran’s borders and represents a major failure of Iranian security to protect a diplomatic guest. Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of the country’s new president.The planners somehow penetrated an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps facility, learned which room was Haniyeh’s and were able to confirm he was there in order to detonate the bomb.“They were able to kill him from a relatively close distance,” said Mark Dubowitz, chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank. “That’s got to show Khamenei the extent to which Mossad has deeply penetrated their system.”
To most Israelis, ending the war with the installation of a Hamas-led government in the West Bank is unthinkable. It would reward terror and give Israel’s enemies greater power than ever before. Even so, many Israelis wanted to keep the Haniyeh negotiating channel open in the desperate hope that it might lead to the release of more hostages. This put Mr. Netanyahu between a rock and a hard place. He had to reject a cease-fire that rewarded Hamas, but he had to seek a cease-fire to free hostages. The killings of Haniyeh, Shukr and Deif help Mr. Netanyahu manage both his domestic and his international problems.In Israel, removing key figures in the Hamas and Hezbollah terror structures is popular. The beleaguered prime minister will likely benefit from an uptick in popularity even as the nation prepares for an escalating war. The moves against Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas will also reassure Israel’s Gulf Arab partners that Israel has the capacity and will to take action in its interest, and to inflict humiliating blows on its foes.However frustrated the Americans are with the attacks, Washington can hardly condemn Israel for eliminating three of the top targets on America’s list of global terrorists. And with Vice President Kamala Harris’s national security adviser under fire for ties to figures accused of cooperating with Iranian influence operations in the U.S., the administration won’t want to advertise a breach with Israel in the runup to the November election.
The timing is important.First, Israel has largely completed its intensive operations in Gaza, severely diminishing Hamas’s capacities and punishing the Palestinians living there for supporting a terror organization.Second, there is no strong U.S. president right now. Joe Biden is counting the days until his term ends. Democratic nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris is in the political battle for her life campaigning.Former President Donald Trump is on the trail as well.Netanyahu knows from his recent meetings in Washington that if Harris becomes president, she is likely to be much tougher on Israel than Biden, who continually refers to himself as a Zionist—irrespective of whether his policies have been supportive of Israel or not.By contrast, Harris would put major pressure on Netanyahu to abort military offensives.While Trump is liable to give stronger backing, as he did during his previous term, he is not seeking to start or expand wars. On the contrary, he wants to restore order and end conflicts. Thus, there is no guarantee that he would give the green light to Israel to launch a major offensive against Hezbollah or Iran.
Israel killed Fuad Shukr, a leader of Hezbollah’s Jihad Council who was guilty of murdering hundreds of Americans as well as Israelis. Shukr masterminded a recent strike that killed a dozen children in Northern Israel. In 1983 he orchestrated the infamous Beirut Marine barracks bombing that killed 241 U.S. servicemen. The State Department subsequently offered a $5 million reward for information on him and listed him as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist.” Years of inaction followed—until now. America should cut Israel a $5 million check.A confidential 1986 Central Intelligence Agency assessment attributed diminishing jihadiist terrorism to the West’s “unprecedented military, diplomatic, and economic retaliatory measures.” The next year’s assessment concluded that “enhanced” counterterrorism operations “kept terrorists off balance.”These findings may offend the conflict-averse Western mind. But that doesn’t change the truth: Negotiating with jihadists telegraphs weakness. Americans should stop demanding cease-fires and trying to mollify the perpetrators of terror. Only by projecting power, unifying the West behind Israel and intimidating Iran and its lackeys can the U.S. restore global stability. America owes Israel a debt of gratitude for taking the lead—plus $5 million.
Israel assassinated 5 Hamas leaders in a tunnel under Gaza City — Arab media report
Israel recently assassinated two Hamas politburo leaders and three military commanders in a tunnel under Gaza City, according to sources from the terror group quoted by the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
According to the report, the IDF strike killed Hamas political leaders Rawhi Mushtaha and Sameh al-Siraj along with three commanders from the group’s military wing, the Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades; Abdul Hadi Siam, Sami Odeh and Muhammad Hadid.
Mushtaha has served as de facto prime minister of the Gaza Strip and is in charge of financial affairs within the Hamas politburo. He reportedly helped establish the Hamas military wing and was arrested by Israel in 1988 before being released in 2011 as part of the Shalit prisoner swap.
He is said to be a close confidant of Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar and is seen as one of the terror group’s most hawkish members.
Siraj has served in the Hamas politburo since 2021 and is also in charge of internal security within the Strip. He reportedly headed a secret intelligence unit operating out of Turkey.
IAF strike killed Oct. 7 terrorist employed by ‘Al Jazeera’
An Israeli Air Force strike in Gaza City on July 31 killed Ismail al-Ghoul, a senior Hamas operative who took part in the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 invasion, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Thursday.
Al-Ghoul, who doubled as a journalist for Qatar’s Al Jazeera, participated in the murderous onslaught and instructed other terrorists on how to record and distribute videos of their attacks, the IDF said.
The statement stressed that the activities of al-Ghoul, a member of Hamas’s elite Nukba Force that led the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israeli communities, were a “vital part” of the Islamist movement’s terrorist actions.
Iran plans to attack Israel on Tisha B’Av - the Jewish day of disasters, Western intelligence says
Western intelligence sources told Sky News Arabia that they had evidence Iran plans to attack Israel on Tisha B’Av in response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which begins on August 12 and ends on August 13, the site reported on Friday.
Iran’s attack will reportedly be coordinated with Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group embedded in Lebanon.
On Tisha B’Av, Jews lament the destruction of the first and second Temples. During the annual event, there is fasting, mourning and a practice of self-denial.
Why Turkey's Erdogan threatened Israel with a proxy war - analysis
Erdogan’s listeners would have understood well what their president was referring to in his remarks. The Turkish leader was hinting that the methods of proxy warfare which have characterized Turkish activity in the region over the last decade might be applied also to the Israeli-Palestinian context.
Erdogan is known for his rhetorical verbosity and extravagance. In this case, however, it would be a mistake to dismiss the statement as mere hot air.
Turkey’s continued domiciling of an active Hamas office and its provision of passports to Hamas operatives are a matter of public record.
In July 2023, Israeli customs authorities intercepted 16 tons of explosive material on its way from Turkey to Gaza, disguised as building material. Thus, Erdogan and Turkey’s support for Hamas is already far beyond the realm of rhetoric.
A close watch on Turkey’s proxy war activities, and in particular on the role of SADAT, is in order.
The Turkish leader sounds like, and acts like, an enemy of Israel. It is overdue that he be properly recognized as one.
Jewish lawmakers groan at "Genocide Josh" campaign
A campaign to scuttle Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as a Democratic vice presidential prospect, largely over his support for Israel, is facing pushback from Jewish members of Congress across the political spectrum.The uniquely fierce opposition to Shapiro — who is Jewish and whose views on Israel are similar to other potential VP candidates — is an all-too-familiar dynamic for some Jewish lawmakers.A story in The Atlantic on Wednesday noted that Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the two other top VP contenders, are not facing such campaigns despite having similarly pro-Israel politics."Activists have not organized in force to discredit any of the non-Jewish contenders for vice president on these grounds. There are no viral memes against 'Killer Kelly' or 'War-Crimes Walz,'" author Yair Rosenberg wrote.
Several high-profile Jewish lawmakers, including Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), have since called out what they say is an antisemitic double standard.
On The Ground In Gaza: What I Saw Of Israel’s Military Operations
Gaza presents an extraordinarily difficult adversary environment. Yet the Israel Defense Forces face the acute challenge of defending their nation while striving to protect Palestinian civilians. Unfortunately, negative perceptions on social media and elsewhere, based on a combination of disinformation, ignorance, and anti-Semitism, indicates there is a wide gap between the reality I witnessed and the perceptions abroad. Sadly, war always involves civilian casualties. But there are many complex factors unfolding on the ground in this war between Israel and Hamas.
Entering Gaza, just past the Kerem Shalom crossing, there was a new road lined on both sides with dozens of trucks, most of them carrying food. The road was constructed by the IDF to make it easier to get food, water, fuel, and other essential supplies to the civilian population. An Israeli Druze colonel in the IDF, responsible for coordinating humanitarian access, explained to me that the numbers vary on average between 200 to 240 trucks entering Gaza every day to deliver food and other humanitarian aid. Some days that number goes even higher.
The military activities I saw, as well as the processes and procedures followed by the Israeli military, are indicative of the IDF complying with the laws of armed conflict.
Australian probe finds Israel didn’t target WCK aid workers in Gaza
The April 1 Gaza strike that killed seven international aid workers from World Central Kitchen was the result of a mistaken identification, an Australian government investigation found on Friday, confirming an IDF probe into the incident.“Based on the information available to me, it is my assessment that the IDF strike on the WCK aid workers was not knowingly or deliberately directed against the WCK,” wrote former Australian Defence Force chief Air Chief Marshal (ret.) Mark Binskin, whom Canberra appointed to investigate the strike that killed Australian aid worker Lalzawmi Frankcom, 43, and six others.Binskin’s investigation found that lower-level IDF officers decided to strike the convoy after mistakenly believing it was being hijacked by Hamas terrorists who were, in fact, unarmed local security guards.“It appears that the IDF controls failed, leading to errors in decision-making and a misidentification, likely compounded by a level of confirmation bias,” said Binskin, who visited Israel as part of the probe.The former military chief noted in his conclusions that the IDF probe was “timely, appropriate and, with some exceptions, sufficient.”
The rector of St Andrews University has been dismissed from the institution’s governing body and her position as a trustee after she accused Israel of genocide and apartheid.Stella Maris criticised the decision to remove her from the two roles, which came after the university commissioned an investigation into an email she sent in November to all St Andrews students calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.The investigation by Morag Ross KC, published on Thursday, said it would be “disproportionate” to dismiss Maris. But the university court – St Andrews’ governing body – said it had acted because she repeatedly declined to accept Ross’s conclusions, including that she had made some students “fear for their safety”.
The leader of one of New York’s most elite private schools has left his post after an academic year marked by infighting among parents, students, faculty and alumni over the war in Gaza.Joe Algrant stepped down on Thursday as the head of school at Ethical Culture Fieldston School after a two-year tenure.This spring, Fieldston was torn apart by pro-Palestinian student activism, including graffiti on the high school that drew widespread public attention. Parents complained that school administrators did not do enough to bring factions together or to articulate and enforce rules around activism, antisemitism and Islamophobia.
On July 31, 2024, following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and top Hizbullah military leader Fuad Shukr, Within Our Lifetime held a rally in New York City. Protesters, waved flags of Hamas, Hizbullah, Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam, and held up photos of Haniyeh and Shukr. Some protesters made an inverted triangle gesture towards NYPD officers. According to the ADL, the inverted triangle hand gesture is "used to represent Hamas itself and glorify its use of violence in many popular anti-Zionist memes and political cartoons." Nerdeen Kiswani, the leader of Within Our Lifetime accused Israel of raping children. A protester with his face covered by a keffiyeh held up a framed photo of Haniyeh, pointed at it and chanted: "The martyr is beloved by Allah! Israel is the Enemy of Allah!" Abdullah Akl, a student at Harvard University and the advocacy director of MAS Staten Island Center,
Jewish groups are celebrating a prisoner-swap deal which secured the release of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, along with more than a dozen other individuals, from Russian prison on Thursday.
When Biden pressures Israel to respond mildly to Iranian aggression, Israel looks weak in the eyes of Tehran. And this tempts Iran's leaders to go further. I discuss what I think is next in this war with @NewsNation: pic.twitter.com/Y7heZ6c63z
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) August 1, 2024
.@JulieMasonShow1 and I review the Iranian 'Ring of Fire' strategy. The Israeli government understands that they are not just fighting against Hamas, Hezbollah or the Houthis - Iran is the real aggressor. The Biden Administration is having a difficult time wrapping their heads… pic.twitter.com/HB9Nu0Hd4w
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) August 1, 2024
If you are waving a Hamas flag in the heart of Times Square to protest the death of one of the world’s worst terrorists, Ismail Haniyeh, you are not “pro-Palestinian.” You are pro-Hamas, anti-Israel, anti-American—anything but “pro-Palestinian.”
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) August 1, 2024
Shilling for a barbaric… pic.twitter.com/gPPzgvAU0F
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