Monday, August 19, 2024

08/19 Links Pt1: U.S. enthusiasm for a hostage deal encourages Hamas recalcitrance; So now we’re not allowed to eliminate terrorists?; The US Called a "Plague" by Abbas

From Ian:

Israel's path to surrender: Hamas' terms for hostage deal are dangerous
There isn't a soul who doesn't want to see our hostages back home. For this reason, the negotiation teams leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to reach a deal with Hamas deserve immense appreciation for their dedication.

However, the Israeli public needs to understand that announcements of "cautious optimism regarding the possibility of progress toward a deal" do not in any way mean that an agreement is about to be signed. In truth, despite the progress made in Doha over the weekend, there are still many reasons to believe that a deal is less likely to be achieved.

Why? First and foremost, because the progress was made with mediators, not with Hamas directly. In other words, we still don't know how the psychopath hiding in the tunnels will react to what Qatar and Egypt have agreed to on his behalf. For instance, it's highly unlikely that he'll give up his demand for IDF forces to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rightly stands firm on this issue. It's incomprehensible how the rest of the defense establishment leaders – those responsible for the Oct. 7 catastrophe – are not insisting as he does, or even more strongly, on keeping IDF forces in this vital area as a non-negotiable condition. Every child understands that withdrawing from Philadelphi while Hamas is still functioning means reviving the monster. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, IDF intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, Shin Bet security service head Ronen Bar, and Mossad chief David Barnea should be the first to warn against this.

Philadelphi is not the only obstacle to a deal. Hamas has yet to agree to a mechanism for screening those returning to northern Gaza. Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar doesn't want screening so he can rebuild his military capabilities. This is precisely the kind of rebuilding that Israel cannot agree to. It's hard to see how these gaps will be bridged.

Moreover, there's disturbing uncertainty about the number of hostages who will actually be released. Unfortunately, a psychological warfare apparatus is being employed against the Israeli public, creating exaggerated expectations for the release of 33 hostages in the first phase. The reality is different. We're talking about 18 living hostages, and even that is not guaranteed. Each hostage is a world unto themselves, and each one who returns home is a victory. However, Israel must carefully consider the price it will be required to pay against the return we will receive. The question is: Will the Israeli public agree to such significant concessions for a number of hostages that may be smaller than expected, knowing that each life is priceless?
Yair Lapid: So now we’re not allowed to eliminate terrorists?
Twelve innocent children were killed by Hezbollah at a soccer field in northern Israel. The next day I visited the site. Bloodstained bicycles were still strewn on the ground. I hugged and talked with heartbroken, crushed people. A few days later, Israel eliminated a senior Hezbollah terrorist in a surgical strike in Lebanon in response. Yet, Israel is expected to endure a massive attack from Hezbollah as if this is an inevitable, even justified, response. A few days later, a senior Hamas terrorist was killed in Tehran. Reports indicated it caused “embarrassment to the Iranians.” Again, Israel is expected to face volleys of rockets and drones in response.

Too many are acting as if this is a reasonable equation. The Iranian president has stated that they have a “right to respond” while the leader of Hezbollah said Israel has crossed some sort of “red line” and a response would be inevitable. That sentiment is echoed by a slew of articles across the world on how and when the attacks will occur asserting that “Iran has to respond” and that an “Iranian response is inevitable.”

But why should such a response be “inevitable?” Not only is this deeply flawed moral logic, it also sets a dangerous precedent for the rest of the world.

When the United States eliminated Osama bin Laden, no one thought it justified an al-Qaeda attack on Washington or New York. When al-Baghdadi was killed in Syria, no one expected the US to calmly accept the inevitable revenge of ISIS. Terrorists thrive because they don’t play by the rules, yet today the world behaves as if their rules are reasonable. The discourse that “everyone has their own narrative” has been transplanted into the war on terror. Even against the world’s most heinous murderers, there’s no longer right and wrong. Those who kill terrorists must consider that their feelings might get hurt and that we have no choice but to accept their revenge.


U.S. enthusiasm for a hostage deal encourages Hamas recalcitrance, experts say
Goldberg noted that Israel still needs to buy weapons from the U.S. in case of an escalation with Hezbollah or the broader Iranian axis.

”It very much feels like Netanyahu agreed to get back on the merry-go-round as the only way to unlock the munitions coming to Israel,” he said, arguing that the U.S. should have “announce[d] a massive arms sale to Israel and an expedited transfer of a range of munitions” immediately after Iran threatened to retaliate against Israel following Haniyeh’s assassination.

Instead, Goldberg said, “it was held back until Israel agreed to come back to ridiculous cease-fire negotiations. That’s having an adverse effect on the cease-fire negotiations that the administration demanded.”

Even the Biden administration officials’ comments to The New York Times that Israel has nothing left to do in Gaza are “a disinformation campaign,” Goldberg argued, saying Washington believes that the headlines “give Israel political cover to make a bad deal with Hamas.”

“It’s a very stupid claim,” Siboni said. “Gaza is full of weapons…above and below ground. They’re just saying it because they want to get something, not because Israel finished the job. It’s not logical, it’s just slogans for their base.

“These people think that if they say something, it’ll just happen. But we have work in Gaza for years ahead,” he added.


Blinken: This is maybe the last opportunity to return Gaza hostages
This could be the last possible moment to return the remaining 115 hostages in Gaza, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Israel on Monday morning as he urged both Israel and Hamas not to thwart a deal.

“This is a decisive moment,” Blinken said as he met with President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem.

It’s “probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire, and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security.

“I'm here as part of an intensive diplomatic effort on President Biden's instructions to try to get this agreement to the line, and ultimately over the line,” Blinken said in advance of an anticipated summit in Cairo to try to finalize a deal.

A senior US official described the Cairo meeting as “end game” talks.

Qatar and Egypt have been the main mediators for a deal, with the support of the United States.

CIA Director William Burns held high-level talks in Doha on Thursday and Friday, with the participation of a high-level Israeli delegation led by Mossad Chief David Barnea.

Professional Israel teams are in Doha and Cairo this week for lower-level talks.
US Secretary Blinken: Israel accepts bridging hostage proposal, Hamas must also do so
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the United States “bridging proposal” to finalize a hostage deal and Hamas must now do so as well, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv on Monday as he wrapped up his one-day visit to Israel.

“In a very constructive meeting” with Netanyahu today, “he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal, that he supports it,” Blinken said.

“It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same, and then the parties, with the help of the mediators the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, have to come together and complete the process of reaching clear understandings about how they’ll implement commitments that they’ve made under this agreement,” Blinken said. A similar statement by the prime minister

Netanyahu put out a similar statement in the aftermath of their three-hour meeting in Jerusalem earlier in the day. Still, Netanyahu and government spokesperson David Mercer continued to underscore Israel’s firm commitment to some of the principled points that have created a gap with Hamas with regard to the deal.

Last week, the US put forward what it described as a “bridging proposal” in Doha, which said it closed the gaps between Israel and Hamas with regard to a May 31 deal US President Joe Biden unveiled at the White House.

Hamas and Israel both accepted that May 31 deal in principal but have argued about the details of how it would be executed for close to three months as the United States has worked to rally global support for the deal, including securing a United Nations Security Council resolution backing it.

On Sunday night as Blinken landed in Israel, Hamas rejected the US bridging proposal. Its spokesperson Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera over the weekend that the latest US text favored Israel and that Netanyahu had introduced new conditions into the deal, including his insistence that the IDF must maintain control of two critical security corridors, Philadelphi and Netzarim.
Hamas rejects US ‘bridging’ offer as Blinken lands in Israel to advance hostage deal
Hamas rejected America’s “bridging proposal” to help finalize a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Israel Sunday night amid a major diplomatic blitz by the Biden administration to finalize an agreement this week.

The “bridging proposal” placed new conditions on the exchange of hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel, Hamas said as it referred to Palestinian security prisoners and terrorists that would be released in the deal. Other agreements previously arrived at have been retracted, it explained.

The US proposal essentially corresponds to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of a permanent ceasefire and a refusal to allow for the IDF to fully withdraw from Gaza, Hamas said.

The terror group spoke up after Netanyahu’s office released a statement that left no room for doubt as to where Netanyahu stood on the issue of a permanent ceasefire, which has been a key Hamas demand.

The Prime Minster’s Office stressed that Israel has not given up on one of its most fundamental demands, that it must be allowed to continue to battle Hamas in Gaza until it ousts the terror group from the enclave, a goal it has yet to complete ten months into the war.

Hamas has insisted that the deal must include an Israeli agreement for a permanent ceasefire.

The US has hoped to get the deal out the door with an agreement from both sides, that the issue of a permanent ceasefire would be negotiated during phase one of the deal.

That phase would allow some 18–33 hostages to be freed during a six-week period.


Making a Deal in Doha: US Hopes to Seal Ceasefire
The world’s attention is on Qatar this week, where Israel and Hamas are discussing a deal to pause hostilities, even as the fight against the Palestinian terrorist organization rages on in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. President Joe Biden continues to pressure the Jewish state into a deal in the hope of quelling tensions with the left wing of his base ahead of next week’s Democratic National Convention.

The Iranian regime also seems to be postponing its anticipated response to the killing of arch-terrorist Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, hoping for a ceasefire to allow them to back down.

In this week’s "JLMinute," JNS CEO and Jerusalem bureau chief Alex Traiman and Middle East correspondent Josh Hasten discuss every angle of the ongoing hostage release talks, and more.


West failing to take Iran threat seriously out of sheer arrogance, says woman who infiltrated regime
The West is failing to take the Iran threat seriously out of “sheer arrogance”, a woman who infiltrated the Tehran regime has warned.

Catherine Perez-Shakdam, a Jewish mother of two who grew up in Paris, concealed her true identity and spent almost a decade posing as an Iran sympathiser, gaining unprecedented access to the heart of the Middle Eastern state and its ruling class.

Her operation culminated in several visits to Tehran at the invitation of the ayatollahs and a rare private audience with Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph at a hotel in central London, she said her experience led her to realise that Iran’s infiltration into the West is far deeper than people believe, despite how open the regime is about their ultimate aim to destroy it.

“There is a network that exists here in the UK, as far as the regime is concerned,” Ms Perez-Shakdam, a journalist, political commentator and Middle East expert, explained, with high ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) constantly going “back and forth” to Iran, under the guise of working for a web of British charities, think-tanks and education centres.

“All these people are part of an ecosystem that literally directly reports back to Iran and takes orders from Iran.”

She added: “This is to direct and gauge the impact of the campaigns that they’re running, tweak the narrative when they need to, change people around, and make new connections. They basically keep tabs on what is going on in the UK and hope to create a very powerful lobby here, which I believe they have done.

“This is dangerous because they want to subvert our democracy and hijack our institutions.

“You’ve seen the way that they’ve hijacked Lebanon, for example, in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. They want to do this everywhere, and we need to understand those countries as being proof of concept that it works.”

But she said down to the “sheer arrogance” of the West, the threat is not taken seriously.
Jonny Gould's Jewish State: 94: "I met the Ayatollah when I lived in Iran. He asked me to write his memoirs. I'm Jewish". Catherine Perez-Shakdam
You’ve never heard a story like this!

Catherine Perez-Shakdam lives in the UK. She was born and raised in France and also lived in Yemen and Iran.

While living in Tehran and married with kids, she mixed in the regime classes, socialising, even going on pilgrimages to Iraq. Nothing unusual about that, you say.

But Catherine is Jewish, of French Sephardi background. As an outsider in plain sight, Catherine never revealed her Jewishness - obviously - so got up close to the leadership. She says it’s a deeply political and ideological regime, not religious.

Even Nihilistic. In Yemen, Catherine started writing articles critical of the Saudis which came to the attention of Iran. And while living there, she travelled with President Raisi on his private plane during election campaigning - and asked for and got a private audience with the Ayatollah Khamanei.

This is Catherine’s highly revealing and detailed story of what drives Iran’s ruling class. It’s a forensic eyewitness of a regime, which she says infiltrates the West - with murder on their minds.

And that’s not all about Catherine. She’s descended from Sephardim who stayed in Spain for centuries after the 1492 expulsion. The 1930s, in fact, when her family ran from Franco’s fascists aiming for Palestine - with tragic consequences.

So this is also a story of Jewish resilience. How trauma can travel through generations yet Jews emerge triumphant in a culture which strives for a better life for its children even at cost to oneself. Catherine is now a research fellow for the Henry Jackson Society.
Biden-Harris Admin Waives Sanctions on Iran’s Terror-Spreading State Broadcaster as Tehran Plots Israel Attack
The Biden-Harris administration recently waived mandatory sanctions on Iran’s state-controlled broadcasting company, which has been publishing a steady stream of anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, and pro-terrorism content since Hamas’s Oct. 7 strike on the Jewish state, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

The State Department informed Congress in a non-public Aug. 9 notification that it will continue to skirt sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the hardline regime’s principal propaganda arm that controls radio, television, and news outlets, according to a copy of the notice reviewed by the Free Beacon.

The waiver allows the IRIB to conduct financial transactions as it disseminates radical agitprop advocating for Israel’s destruction and terrorism against American outposts in the Middle East. It is the first time the Biden-Harris administration has renewed the waiver since Hamas launched its unprecedented attack on Israel, sparking war with Iranian proxies across the region.

While past administrations have waived sanctions on the IRIB, starting with the Obama administration in 2014, the fresh waiver comes amid a unique period of Iranian aggression. In the wake of the Oct. 7 attack by Iranian terrorist proxy Hamas, Tehran has launched increased attacks on American bases and personnel, as well as the Jewish state.

As a result, the decision to grant Iran fresh sanctions relief is being met with GOP anger on Capitol Hill, particularly in light of Tehran’s increased attacks on American bases, personnel, and allies, including Israel.

"The Biden-Harris administration's appeasement of the Iranian regime knows no bounds, even while the regime and its proxies are launching daily attacks against American troops and our allies," Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told the Free Beacon.

"The administration has allowed over $100 billion to flow to the Ayatollah, which he pours into nuclear development, terrorism, and propaganda, all of which is also supposed to be subject to sanctions—which the administration is also waiving or refusing to enforce."

The Biden-Harris administration also waived IRIB sanctions in February 2023. At that time, Iran was murdering anti-regime protesters and broadcasting their forced confessions on television.
Elliott Abrams: The United States Was Just Called a "Plague" by Mahmoud Abbas. Now what?
According to the State Department on June 11, “The United States will provide an additional $404 million in lifesaving humanitarian aid to support Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, and the region, bringing the total U.S. assistance to more than $674 million over the past eight months.” Moreover, the United States is “the largest single country humanitarian donor to the Palestinian people.” In the last thirty years, total U.S. aid to the Palestinian people is over $5 billion.

Perhaps it is too much, in the rough and tumble of international politics, to ask for or expect gratitude. But it is more than a little surprising to see the leader of the Palestinians say “America is the plague, and the plague is America.”

One wonders if the State Department—so sensitive these days to the speeches of Israeli politicians—has condemned Abbas’s statement.

One wonders what the average American would say if confronted with those words from Abbas, and then asked if American tax dollars should continue to flow to that man. Well, actually, one does not wonder; it’s crystal clear.

The United States will be treated this way by Abbas, and others, as long as they think they can get away with it.

Abbas should not get away with this. A retraction and apology should be demanded, and until it is received not one more dime should move. No self-respecting country should permit itself to be treated this way. We are happily past the ages when such comments led to duels among men or wars among nations. But paying for such insults ought to be out of the question.


‘Every sentence’ of ICC Prosecutor’s allegations against Netanyahu and Gallant is untrue, says group of NGOs
The allegations used by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor to order arrest warrants for Israeli leaders are based on “wholesale inaccuracy”, it has been claimed.

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan KC asked the body in May to order the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on the alleged grounds that Israel has employed starvation of Palestinian civilians as a method of warfare.

But according to observations filed with the Court by a group of NGOs, “every phrase of every sentence of a statement of the International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor summarising his allegations against Netanyahu and Gallant is untrue”,

The lengthy report – compiled earlier this month by UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), the International Legal Forum (ILF), the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), B’nai B’rith UK (BBUK) and the Jerusalemites Initiative (JI) – rebuts a number of crucial claims laid out by Khan that justify the arrest warrants.

Among the prosecutor’s claims, for example, is that Israel is imposing “a total siege over Gaza that involved completely closing the three crossing points, Rafah, Kerem Shalom and Erez, from October 8 2023 for extended periods.”

The NGOs point out that the Rafah crossing is between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, not Israel, so Israel can’t open it if Egypt insists on closing it, without going to war with Egypt.

They dispute a series of other allegations by the Prosecutor, including a claim that famine is present in some areas of Gaza and imminent in others. The NGOs believe this claim is based on earlier reports that omitted to count a large part of the food and water supplies in Gaza and have since been officially classed as “implausible”.

They also challenge the ICC’s jurisdiction, arguing that ICC intervention is necessary only if national legal systems cannot or will not investigate or deal with alleged crimes. Israel, they point out, has a strong track record of holding officials at the highest levels accountable and the country’s independent Military Advocate General has already initiated 74 criminal investigations into alleged IDF misconduct since October 7.
High level military group challenges ICC's arrest warrants against Israeli leaders
It was on May 20, 2024 that Karim Khan KC, a British jurist and chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), applied to the court to issue international arrest warrants against three Hamas leaders – and also against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. His request in respect of the Israeli leaders was backed by a catalog of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity that he accused them of committing.

The High Level Military Group (HLMG) is an association of military leaders and officials from NATO and other democratic countries. Between them, they have a wealth of experience at the very highest operational and policy levels as regards the conduct of warfare and its attendant policies. On August 17, a letter signed by 10 of their members was published in Britain’s Daily Telegraph.

In it, they stated: “We believe that the International Criminal Court’s pursuit of arrest warrants for Israeli national leaders is unjustified,” backing their assertion with evidence gathered in direct investigations the group undertook in July within the IDF and inside Gaza. They described the IDF military justice and accountability mechanisms as “consistent with the highest standards of our own armed forces,” and wrote that Israel has both the ability and the will to implement these. They contend that issuing arrest warrants would deny Israel the time and opportunity permitted to other countries.

Their conclusion was: “These warrants should be dismissed.”

When Khan originally applied to the ICC for these international arrest warrants, the United Kingdom’s then-Conservative government wanted to question the court’s power to do so. Since then, a general election has resulted in a new Labour administration – and one of its earliest decisions was not to proceed with Britain’s submission to the ICC. ICC PROSECUTOR Karim Khan speaks during an interview in The Hague, earlier this year. (credit: PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW/REUTERS)


Israel's July strikes on Yemen's Hodeidah port a 'possible war crime', HR Watch says
Israeli airstrikes on Yemen's Hodeidah port last month appeared to be an "indiscriminate or disproportionate attack on civilians which may amount to a war crime", Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday.

Israel said on July 20 its warplanes struck Houthi military targets near Hodeidah.

The attack targeted oil facilities and a power station and HRW said it killed at least six people and wounded at least 80.

It took place a day after a Houthi drone hit Israel's economic hub Tel Aviv, killing one person, which HRW said also may constitute a war crime.

The retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on Hodeidah hit more than two dozen oil storage tanks and two shipping cranes in the port, as well as a power plant in the province's Salif district, Human Rights Watch said.

"The attacks appeared to cause disproportionate harm to civilians and civilian objects. Serious violations of the laws of war committed willfully, that is deliberately or recklessly, are war crimes."

Analyzed satellite imagery found that the oil tanks burned for at least three days, posing environmental concerns, according to the HRW report.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli foreign ministry.


Saudi Arabia ‘interested’ in Palestinian governance which could ‘finally bring peace’
US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair and Republican Congressman Michael McCaul discusses a new government being put forward in Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war to get back to “normalisation”.

“I’ve talked to the Saudis extensively about this,” Mr McCaul told Sky News host Sharri Markson.

“They’re in the best position to form a governance for the Palestinians.

“They are very engaged, they are keenly interested, they want to be a part of a new Middle East.

“But also, most importantly a security alliance between the United States, Israel and the Saudis.

“This would be a game changer in the Middle East, that could finally bring peace.”




Why Hamas's suicide bombing threats don’t lead to quaking knees
Suicide bombings were a feature of the Second Intifada, a feature that the 2002 Operation Defensive Shield neutralized to a large degree.

Prior to Operation Defensive Shield, Israel – in accordance with the Oslo Accords – stayed out of the large Palestinian cities. As a result, a terrorist infrastructure took shape there that turned out one suicide bombing attack after the next. Labs were built to make the explosives, workshops popped up to put the bombs on suicide vests, and a terrorist network developed to recruit the suicide bombers, train them, and find people to ferry the murderers into Israel.

In April of 2002, the IDF moved back into the Palestinian cities in the West Bank to dismantle the labs and disrupt the terrorist network. It took a couple of years, but it worked, and the suicide bombings largely disappeared. It takes a great deal of planning and preparation to carry out this type of attack, planning and preparation disrupted when the IDF went back into the cities.

Further, it has taken nearly 20 years of vigilance – of IDF soldiers going back into the cities and towns week after week, sometimes night after night, to make sure that the terrorist infrastructure does not become reestablished.

The last two to three years saw a noticeable resurgence of terror activity inside the refugee camps in places like Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nablus, right under the IDF’s nose. Israel did not take strong enough measures to stamp them out, partly because of the same security doctrine that held sway in the country at the time and on October 7 – it did not want to ignite the area, it wanted to keep everything calm.

As the terrorism from the West Bank increased, however, this policy shifted a bit, and in July of last year – Operation Bayit VeGan – the IDF, for the first time in months, carried out a mission inside the Jenin refugee camp that signified a more aggressive policy.

Then October 7 hit, and even as the IDF has been fighting in Gaza and trading lethal blows with Hezbollah in Lebanon, it also understands that this is the time to dismantle the resurgent terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank.

According to various reports, since October 7 some 600 Palestinians have been killed in Judea and Samaria, most of them engaged in firefights with the IDF, or terrorists carrying out attacks, or rioters clashing with the IDF.

In addition, an estimated 4,500 militants have been arrested, including more than 1,800 affiliated with Hamas. While heavy fighting is taking place in Gaza and on the northern border, the IDF is daily operating inside Judea and Samaria to thwart attacks that are in the planning stage, and to disrupt attacks even before they are launched.

The main tool for doing this is not to wait on the roads for something to happen, but rather to act on a daily basis inside various Palestinian towns and villages – to keep terrorists preoccupied with having to deal with the IDF daily so that they are unable to have the time or the freedom of movement to plan larger attacks.

These daily actions are critical in preventing attacks like the one attempted by the suicide bomber in Tel Aviv on Sunday. Understanding this is important because the media reports about Sunday’s incident suggested that only by a miracle or luck was tragedy averted. Perhaps, but in past cases – and they have been numerous – the IDF and the Shin Bet have prevented these suicide bombers from committing their atrocities.

All of that is worth remembering when Hamas and Islamic Jihad warn of a new wave of suicide bombings or a Third Intifada. These groups have long yearned for this, and their inability to make it happen is not due to a lack of intent, but rather because Israel’s security measures are largely prevent them from succeeding – something to keep in mind when hearing the terrorist organizations’ most recent threats.
Police confirms Tel Aviv explosion was failed terror attack
Police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) confirmed on Monday that the Sunday night explosion in Tel Aviv was a terrorist attack carried out via a powerful explosive device.

The police and Shin Bet further added that the alertness levels had been raised throughout Gush Dan, and searches were being carried out in the area.

According to Israeli media on Monday, the terrorist came from the West Bank.

On Monday morning, Haim Bobalil, Police commander of the Ayalon area of Tel Aviv, said that, following an assessment, the police believed it was a terrorist threat. "It was a miracle that it did not explode in the nearest synagogue or in the shopping center. It could have ended in dozens of deaths."

"Dozens of calls were received by the emergency center, reporting a loud explosion and body parts scattered on Lehi Street," according to Central District Commander Perez Ammar at around 8 p.m. He further added that when police forces arrived at the scene, they "noticed a mutilated body and signs of an explosion on the wall."

Police initially said they were "having difficulty identifying the body," but said that the person killed was "not an innocent civilian, but rather the person who was carrying the explosive device. Whether this is criminal or terrorism-related, it's too early to say," Amer emphasized. Documentation of the explosion in Tel Aviv (credit: via Maariv)

Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics said they found an unconscious body with multiple systemic injuries, and later pronounced him dead.

In addition, a 33-year-old man was moderately wouneded. MDA paramedics provided the individual medical treatment and evacuated him to Sourasky Medical Center with shrapnel injuries to his limbs and chest.


Hamas, Islamic Jihad claim failed Tel Aviv suicide bombing
The “military” wings of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist groups accepted responsibility on Monday afternoon for a failed suicide bombing attack in south Tel Aviv the previous night.

In a statement, Hamas vowed to continue to carry out suicide attacks “as long as Israel continues its massacre and policy of assassinations in Gaza.”

The Israel Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) earlier on Monday determined that the incident was an attempted terrorist attack.

The bomber, who was killed in the blast, was a Palestinian from the area of Nablus (Shechem) in central Samaria. An accomplice is believed to have transported him to Tel Aviv.

“It can be said that this was a terror attack, with the detonation of a powerful explosive device,” the police and Shin Bet said in a joint statement following a situation assessment led by the commander of the Tel Aviv Police District, who ordered increased alertness in the Dan region.


IDF troops destroy 1.5 km tunnel containing Hamas housing
IDF troops in the 603rd Balltallion and the Yahalom Unit destroyed a 1.5-kilometer-long tunnel in which a compound was discovered containing weapons, explosives, and equipment for long-term stay, the IDF reported Monday.

The IDF soldiers used intelligence to locate the tunnel in Khan Yunis.

The equipment had visibly been used by terrorists who left the compound before troops arrived. IDF soldiers operate in Khan Yunis, Deir al-Balah

Troops of the 7th Brigade operated in Khan Yunis and on the outskirts of Deir al-Balah, where they killed terrorists and destroyed compounds used by terrorists above and below ground.

In one of the compounds, the 603rd Battalion located dozens of rockets, rocket launchers, and several anti-tank missiles.


IDF officer killed due to malfunctioning Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s Khan Younis
An Israeli officer was killed and several others were wounded by a failed Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip this morning, the military announces.

The soldier is named as Lt. Shahar Ben Nun, 21, of the Paratroopers Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, from Petah Tikva.

In addition to the killed soldier, another three were moderately wounded and three others were lightly wounded.

According to an initial IDF probe, at around 6:30 a.m. Israeli Air Force F-15 fighter jets were striking several targets in the Khan Younis area. One of the missiles, due to a technical issue, did not correctly glide to the intended target, and instead struck a multi-story building where the paratroopers were stationed.

The building was some 300 meters away from the intended target, the probe found.

The missile struck one of the apartments in the upper floors of the building. The soldiers in an adjacent apartment were hurt after part of the building collapsed on them.

The IAF says that the incident is an outlier, and that it has not seen such a malfunction before. Tens of thousands of munitions have been fired from fighter jets amid the war in Gaza, with no comparable malfunctions, according to the military.
Hezbollah barrage kills one, wounds another in the Galilee
An IDF chief warrant officer was killed and a combat officer was seriously wounded on Monday morning when a drone launched from Lebanon slammed into Moshav Ya’ara in the Western Galilee, the army confirmed.

At least three others were injured in the attack.

The death of Chief Warrant Officer Mahmood Amaria, 45, from Ibtin, brings the total military death toll on all fronts since the start of the war to 691. Amaria was a soldier in the Bedouin Trackers Unit in the Border Defense Corps’ 300th Brigade.

The severely injured officer, also from the 300th Brigade, was evacuated to the hospital and his family was notified.

The injuries were caused by a fire that broke out after the UAV impacted in the area, hitting at least one building.

Along with the drones, 10 rockets were fired across the border at the Upper Galilee during the barrage. No injuries or damage were reported.


IDF confirms airstrikes on Hezbollah weapons depots in northeast Lebanon
The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes in northeastern Lebanon’s Baalbek District this evening, targeting several Hezbollah weapons depots.

Additionally, the IDF confirms carrying out a drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Deir Qanoun earlier today, killing a Hezbollah operative.

According to the military, Hussein Ali Hussein Suleiman was a prominent member of the terror group’s rocket and missile unit.

Another Hezbollah cell was also struck by fighter jets in a building in Taybeh, the IDF adds.


Hostage Romi Gonen’s family marks her 24th birthday with event to ‘spread light’
The family of hostage Romi Gonen, now in Hamas captivity for over 300 days, was marking her 24th birthday Sunday with an event aimed at “spreading light.”

Gonen was kidnapped during the October 7 onslaught on southern Israel, in which Hamas terrorists killed some 1,200 people and seized 251 hostages.

Romi’s father Eitan told Channel 12 news that his daughter is “a magical girl. She’s all heart, all love…. a justice warrior.”

“It’s unbelievable that we’re marking this day without her,” he said.

Eitan went on to say that after much contemplation as to how to commemorate this special day, the family decided to hold a “day of good deeds, so that when Romi returns — and she will no doubt return — she will see the documentation [of the event] and be so happy.”

Eitan added that his family is an optimistic one, and that “we end every conversation, every interview, with the same words: that Romi is coming home. We just don’t know when exactly.”

The family invited attendees to wear leopard print or yellow attire to embody the young abductee’s vibrant spirit.

A press release about the event said it would include a stand where attendants can create signs in solidarity with the hostages, a bar with Romi’s favorite cocktails, a flower arrangement station, music, and “Romi’s signature dance lesson.”

Ahead of Romi’s birthday, Yarden Gonen, her sister, spoke at a Tel Aviv protest on Saturday calling for a hostage release deal. She read a message to her sister, asking, “How can I continue to exist in this world, when I see people aren’t doing everything they can to return the hostages?”

Yarden Gonen revealed at the end of her speech that this message had been composed on her own birthday, some eight months ago, and lamented its continued relevance now.


CBN News: How are Kibbutz Residents Recovering After Attack?
Adele Raemer describes how the the residents of Kibbutz Nirim, devastated by the Hamas massacre, have relocated, but our still near each other, recovering until it's safe to return home. Despite the trauma, she dreams of hearing children play in kibbutz again.




The Rubin Report: A Chilling Warning for the West | Eylon Levy
Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to Eylon Levy about his experience as an Israeli government spokesman; the challenges of representing Israel during the October 7 Hamas attacks and the ensuing war; the difficulties of countering international media narratives that often misreport events; the importance of global support for Israel; the necessity of advocating for Israel's position on the world stage despite media hostility; the international media's bias and the absurdity of anti-Israel protests; Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's powerful speech in Congress; Israel's fight against Iranian aggression and the importance of U.S. support; the resilience of Israelis during the ongoing conflict; the significance of the Abraham Accords; the need for a regional alliance to counter Iran; the reluctance of Arab nations to accept Palestinian refugees and the perpetual conflict with Israel; how Arab states have fostered a "forever war" against Israel and now face the consequences; how Donald Trump proved John Kerry wrong with the passage of the Abraham Accords; Qatar's support for Hamas and why the U.S. must apply pressure to get results; the ongoing threat from Hezbollah and other fronts, calling for global support to defend against Iranian aggression; and much more.


The Quad Interviews: Fighting Fearlessly: Vivian Bercovici’s Journey to Israel
Fate has a way of bringing people to the place they are meant to be at the time they are needed there most.

In this special interview, "The Quad" host Fleur Hassan-Nahoum sits down with former Canadian ambassador to Israel Vivian Bercovici to discuss her journey and recent move to Israel.

They discuss some of the challenges Bercovici faced as a woman and a Jew and how she thinks the foreign service should be changed to reflect today’s realities.

Chapters
0:00 Intro & Vivian’s background
9:45 Conservative Party of Canada
13:00 Challenges becoming ambassador
22:00 Living the dream
25:00 Fixing foreign affairs


Jewish Voices for Trump: Trump speaks at "Fighting Antisemitism" event Bedminster, NJ
Former President Trump spoke at Bedminster this evening at the "Fighting Antisemitism" event in New Jersey after launching 'Jewish Voices for Trump'. The former president's campaign launched the coalition as antisemitism runs rampant across the US.


Israel Advocacy Movement: Palestinian propagandist LIES DEBUNKED in Konstantin Kisin Debate

The Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz Has a History of Anti-Israel Social Media Posts
The Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz recently came under fire for posting a selfie on Instagram with US President Joe Biden in the background and the caption “War criminal 🙁.”

The post is widely believed to be a reference to President Biden’s support for Israel during its ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.

For many, this might appear to be Taylor Lorenz’s first questionable social media post regarding Israel and the war in Gaza, with WaPo vowing to look into it and NPR describing the technology reporter as having “not been otherwise vocal about the Israel-Hamas conflict.”

However, this is far from the truth.

Throughout the current Israel-Hamas war, Taylor Lorenz has posted on her personal X (formerly Twitter) account a variety of questionable statements about the conflict, veering into anti-Israel disinformation, whitewashing of Palestinian terrorism, and conspiracy theories.

Some of the posts include:
Describing Palestinian journalists in Gaza as “more legitimate than most [people] on cable news” even though a significant number of Gaza-based journalists have been found to have ties to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other proscribed Palestinian terror organizations.
In an effort to whitewash the anti-Israel campus protests that sprang up across the United States in spring 2024, Lorenz claimed that “there’s no evidence” that any of the student protesters had said “Death to America.” A simple Google search would have provided this esteemed journalist with evidence proving otherwise.
The re-sharing of a post on X that justified an anti-Israel riot that took place outside a Los Angeles synagogue in June 2024.
The spread of debunked claims about an imminent famine in Gaza.
Defending Briahna Joy Gray’s claim that the media should be looking into absurd claims that Israel trained dogs to rape Palestinian prisoners.

Does This Matter?

Does it matter that Taylor Lorenz has spent her spare time spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about the Jewish state?

After all, Lorenz is a technology reporter and is entitled to her personal opinions.

However, there are two reasons why we should be concerned about the recent tumult surrounding her post referring to Biden as a war criminal.

First, if The Washington Post takes seriously what its journalists post on social media, as is evidenced by their declared investigation into this latest Instagram post, why has it allowed Lorenz to spread disinformation and falsehoods without any response until now?

Second, although Lorenz writes primarily about technology and online culture, her work does occasionally intersect with matters relating to Israel and the war in Gaza.

Between October 7 and today, Lorenz has written several articles that touch on the Israel-Hamas conflict, including articles about discussions of the conflict on TikTok, pro-Israel apps, pro-Palestinian social media users, and “Gen Z influencers” who have turned against Biden due to his support for Israel.

Is a reporter who condones riots outside synagogues, promotes conspiracy theories about Israel-trained dogs, and whitewashes both anti-Israel protesters and terror-affiliated Gazan journalists someone who The Washington Post wants representing their brand online or reporting on Israel-related matters?




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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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