Tuesday, September 10, 2024

09/10 Links Pt1: South Africa trying to delay ICJ genocide case for lack of evidence; IDF video shows ‘horrific conditions’ in hostage tunnel

From Ian:

South Africa trying to delay ICJ genocide case for lack of evidence
South Africa is attempting to extend the deadline for presenting evidence against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague because it is unable to prove its allegations of genocide, Kan News reported on Tuesday.

The move comes some nine months after the country submitted a suit against the Jewish state over the Israel Defense Forces’ conduct in the war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza, claiming that the IDF is committing genocide.

South Africa is required to submit its evidence on Oct. 28, but is trying to extend the deadline by several months in the hope that evidence proving their genocide accusations will come from other places.

Kan noted how unusual the tactic is, as plaintiffs generally want to expedite the proceedings, and the defendant, in this case Israel, wants to slow it down.

Axios reported on Monday about an Israeli campaign to exact a heavy price in the diplomatic arena for South Africa’s ICJ suit, with the Israeli Foreign Ministry in recent weeks engaged in a diplomatic effort to prevent South Africa from moving forward with the case, including sending a classified cable to the Israeli embassy in Washington and all Israeli consulates in the United States.

“We are asking you to immediately work with lawmakers on the federal and state level, with governors and Jewish organizations to put pressure on South Africa to change its policy towards Israel and to make clear that continuing their current actions like supporting Hamas and pushing anti-Israeli moves in international courts will come with a heavy price,” the cable read.
Netanyahu: ICC prosecutor pushes ‘pure antisemitism’ by again asking court to arrest Israelis
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately criticized the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court after he urged justices on Tuesday to issue a swift ruling on arrest warrants for the Israeli premier, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and two top Hamas terrorist leaders.

Karim Khan’s comparison between Israel, “which is fighting murderous Hamas terrorism in accordance with the laws of war, and war criminal [Yahya] Sinwar, who executed Israeli hostages in cold blood, is pure antisemitism and a moral disgrace of the highest order,” he stated.

“Unfortunately, we have seen from the beginning that the proceedings in The Hague are politically biased and have no professional legal basis whatsoever,” the premier added in a statement published by his office.

In a filing to the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber on Monday, Khan expressed frustration with the court’s delay in issuing the arrest warrants, urging action ahead of Netanyahu’s scheduled address to the United Nations General Assembly later this month, Israel’s Ynet outlet reported.

“The prosecution respectfully requests that the Chamber issue its decision on the applications for the warrants of arrest against Yahya Sinwar, [Mohammed] Deif, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Yoav Gallant with utmost urgency,” Khan wrote in a six-page letter to the ICC justices.

The arrest of the four, the prosecutor insisted, “is necessary to, inter alia, ensure that they do not obstruct or endanger the investigation or court proceedings, prevent the continuing commission of the crimes alleged and/or the commission of other Rome Statute crimes. “

In May, Khan demanded the arrest of Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged war crimes. He lumped the two Israelis together with then-Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, Hamas “military” leader Mohammed Deif and Hamas “political” head Ismail Haniyeh. (Deif was reportedly killed in Gaza and Haniyeh in Iran, both in July, by Israeli forces as part of Swords of Iron.)

The ICC has no jurisdiction as Jerusalem is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which established the court. But in a legalistic sleight of hand, the court claimed jurisdiction by accepting “Palestine” as a signatory in 2015, even though no such state exists under international law.
'Shocking Failure': Cotton Blasts UN Human Rights Council for Refusing To Call Hamas a Terrorist Org
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) is pressing the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to explain its "shocking failure to condemn the terrorists of Hamas," blasting the international organization for its "moral blindness" and "obscene penchant for targeting and smearing Israel."

Cotton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, instructed the council to explain why it continues to call Hamas terrorists "Palestinian armed groups," a term the senator says is meant to whitewash its ongoing crimes.

"While you preen as the moral voice of the world, you’ve refused to call Hamas a terrorist organization and repeatedly drawn a false equivalence between Hamas and Israel," Cotton wrote to UNHRC high commissioner Volker Türk in a Tuesday letter, according to a copy obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. "You and your United Nations colleagues should immediately and unequivocally call Hamas what it is: a terrorist organization."

The letter comes after Hamas claimed responsibility for the torture and murder last week of six hostages, including one American citizen, who were held in the intricate tunnel system running underneath the Gaza Strip. Shortly after the mass killing, the UNHRC issued a statement attributing the slaughter to "Palestinian armed groups," even though Hamas had already claimed responsibility.

"Although you professed that you were ‘horrified’ by the executions, you failed even to mention Hamas as the murderer and called for an ‘independent’ investigation into the killing," Cotton wrote. "Hamas had already admitted to these barbaric murders, so I’m not sure what such an investigation would prove."

"Moral blindness," he added, "unfortunately seems to be your modus operandi—never more evident than in your statement earlier this month after Hamas executed six hostages."


Egypt Has Violated Its Peace Treaty With Israel. It Must Face Consequences
The tunnel problem is not new. Hamas tunnels have been crisscrossing the Egypt-Gaza border since the early 2000s. In 2006, Yuval Diskin, then director of the Shin Bet, said that "the Egyptians know who the smugglers are and don't deal with them ... They received intelligence on this from us and didn't use it." In 2007, The New York Times reported that Israeli officials had sent videotapes to American officials showing Egyptian border guards aiding the smuggling.

Then, after the regime of Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi took control of Egypt in 2014, the Egyptians destroyed many of the tunnels, due to a policy stemming from the new regime's belief that Hamas was inextricably linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, which Cairo viewed as an existential threat. But by 2018, the tunnels began to operate again.

Why the Israelis didn't sound the alarm is not clear. The Israeli government needs to explain itself. But so does Egypt, which allowed Hamas to operate the tunnels in violation of its treaty obligations.

Was Egypt motivated by money, amidst a steep and protracted economic decline in recent years? Did Cairo get paid off by Hamas, or its wealthy patron, Qatar? Did the Iranians play a role? Was Egypt threatened with violence and unrest by the Sinai's Bedouin Union of Tribes, who are the primary profiteers of smuggling, if it did not allow the tunnels to operate? Or did the Sisi regime take part in this operation because of an ideological hatred of Israel?

These are important questions to answer. But Cairo's culpability is by now crystal clear.

This should have broader implications beyond its bilateral relationship with Israel. Egypt appears to have directly undermined American diplomatic and strategic interests in the Middle East.

A debate is now raging in Israel about the Philadelphi Corridor. Some say Israel should give up control to ensure the release of hostages in pursuit of a ceasefire deal. Others say Israel can never leave the corridor to permanently stymie Hamas smuggling. This is a false binary. If anything, Israel must work with Washington to make sure that Egypt installs an Israeli-engineered underground security system that would prevent Hamas from exploiting the border in the future.

This is a directive that only Washington can issue.

For reasons unclear, the Biden administration has failed to call out Egypt, let alone demand answers.

Nobody wants this important peace to unravel. But that doesn't mean we should ignore the problem. The U.S. Congress should consider conditioning aid until Egypt upholds its obligations.

In the meantime, Cairo must begin to acknowledge the security problems that have only grown over the years, contributing to the October 7 attacks and the regional war that followed.


Biden to convene aides on hostage talks as new Hamas demands sink hopes for deal
With attempts to forge a hostage release deal seemingly adrift, US President Joe Biden was expected on Monday to convene his National Security Council to try to find a way forward to free hostages from Hamas captivity and end the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

White House officials told senior Egyptian and Qatari officials earlier Monday that the US was “frustrated” with new Hamas demands on the release of prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli prisons, which it is seeking in exchange for hostages it has held since October 7, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

The Biden administration also asked Cairo and Doha to push Hamas to back off its recent demands, according to the source, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The talks come after reports indicated growing pessimism in the US that a deal will be possible, with a senior US official describing new Hamas demands that terrorists serving life sentences be released for civilian hostages in the first stage as a “poison pill,” in remarks reported by the Washington Post Sunday.

Until now, the formula was that hardened terrorists would only be released for kidnapped IDF soldiers — including 150 life-term murderers to be released from Israeli jails during the first phase in return for the five female surveillance soldiers held hostage.

Up until days ago, the US had been widely expected to put out a new proposal aimed at bridging gaps between the sides. However, those plans have apparently been shelved.

After talks failed to advance in recent weeks, the US was widely expected to put forward a new proposal to bridge gaps between the sides on a hostage and ceasefire deal. But with Hamas’s hardened stance, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Monday that the US was being cautious and did not want to release a proposal it knows Hamas will reject.

Reports Sunday indicated that there was broad pessimism over chances for a deal both among Israeli negotiators and US mediators, who were unhappy with both Hamas’s demands and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence that troops remain on the Gaza-Egypt border, as well as his recent public comments.


Media promote bogus UN report claiming Hamas has no ties to UNRWA
NPR recently broadcast an article asserting the lie that Israel has been “spreading false information about UNRWA,” referencing the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian “refugees.” Yet, Israel has presented voluminous evidence that UNRWA is a front for the Hamas terror group.

In fact, it’s the U.N. that’s lying about UNRWA, and now its lies are being covered up by NPR and other mainstream media.

Indeed, back in April, The New York Times parroted the bogus claims of an “independent” review that exonerated UNRWA of having ties to Hamas, with the headline, “Israel Hasn’t Offered Evidence Tying Many U.N. Workers to Hamas, Review Says.”

Wrong.

The State of Israel has presented extensive lists of terrorists connected to UNWRA, as well as examples of overlapping funding, governance and facilities, indicating that UNRWA has been thoroughly infiltrated by Hamas operatives and loyalists. While this evidence was presented to UNRWA High Commissioner Phillipe Lazzarini, he and the review panel simply ignored it.

The review cited by both NPR and the NYT is highly suspect, since it was commissioned by U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is operationally responsible for UNRWA activities. Guterres called UNRWA a “lifeline of hope and dignity”—lofty praise for an organization that has utterly failed for 75 years to help Palestinians rise above their dependent refugee status. To the contrary, the agency has cynically fostered and perpetuated Palestinian victimhood.

Most egregiously, the panel that conducted the probe on behalf of the U.N.’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) lacked the mandate to investigate the presence of Hamas among its staff—which should have been the very subject of the investigation. In fact, by the U.N.’s own admission, the review was only designed to ease the concerns of donors. These two facts were somehow omitted by NPR, the NYT and other media.

Furthermore, the probe was led by a former French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, presenting another major conflict of interest, since Colonna approved French support of millions of euros for UNRWA. Also participating in the probe were three organizations whose executives have expressed extreme animosity towards Israel, accusing it of “genocide” and “apartheid.”
Swiss parliamentarians vote to stop UNRWA funding
The Swiss House of Representatives voted on Monday to immediately halt payments to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) over its ties to terrorism.

The decision, which still needs to be approved by the Swiss Senate, was the latest back and forth between the two governmental chambers over funding to the agency, and mirrors similar moves taken last year.

The 99-88 vote to suspend funding was adopted along with a separate motion calling on Switzerland to directly support aid efforts by other organizations in the Gaza Strip.

“This is a very powerful signal and a continuing vote of no-confidence in UNRWA,” Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch, told JNS on Tuesday.

Neuer, who testified before the Swiss parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee this spring, said the vote was a “slap in the face” to Swiss UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, who had lobbied furiously to prevent it from happening.

The head of the Geneva-based watchdog organization said that the dispute would not be resolved for several months yet, and would likely relate to next year’s funding.

Bombshell intel report causes only temporary freeze
An Israeli intelligence report released earlier this year showed that at least a dozen UNRWA employees actively participated Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, and that the agency has hundreds of “military operatives” belonging to Hamas and other terrorist groups on its payroll.

The revelations prompted 17 countries—led by the United States and Germany, UNRWA’s biggest donors—including Switzerland to suspend funding. Nearly all have since resumed funding due to concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

“The freeze was performative following the U.S. lead, and not something they wanted to do,” said Neuer. “It did not reflect a policy decision or true concern.”


MK calls for B’Tselem head to lose citizenship over UN testimony
Likud MK Nissim Vaturi demanded that Yuli Novak, executive director of the far-left NGO B’Tselem and former head of another extremist organization, Breaking the Silence, be stripped of her Israeli citizenship after she testified against Israel at the United Nations Security Council on Sept. 4.

In a Sept. 9 letter to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel of the Shas Party, Vaturi, who serves as deputy speaker of the Knesset, said Novak should lose her citizenship for “breach of trust.”

As the nation of Israel emerges from its “most difficult day since the Holocaust,” and right after the murder of six hostages, and as Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon fights for Israel’s right to defend itself and to return its captive citizens alive, “an Israeli citizen chose to join with Hamas and Hezbollah and to demand that the U.N. act against Israel,” Vaturi wrote.

“This is the CEO of B’Tselem, Yuli Novak, who appeared at the U.N. in a special discussion,” he said.

Vaturi quoted a section of Novak’s briefing in which she claimed, “To understand Israeli government’s criminal conduct over the last 11 months, you have to understand the overall goal of this regime. Since Israel was founded, its guiding logic has been to promote Jewish supremacy over the entire territory under its control.”
IDF detains terror suspect embedded within UN team in northern Gaza
The IDF late Monday night announced it had detained a UN team from a caravan of humanitarian vehicles, including arresting some terror suspects who had embedded themselves within the caravan at a northern Gaza checkpoint.

According to the IDF, it had received intelligence that terrorists might have concealed themselves within the caravan.

Despite some earlier reports that the trucks were carrying polio vaccines, the military said the vehicles were not connected to the vaccination project for Gaza and were just facilitating changing over UN personnel at various locations in Gaza. However, UNRWA officials later offered a conflicting account.

It was unclear why there was a discrepancy regarding the purpose of the UN caravan, though the politics surrounding the polio vaccination is highly sensitive from a number of different angles.

The IDF said that it was continuing to question the detained suspects.


Gallant: ‘Hamas as a military formation no longer exists’
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant asserted on Monday that the Hamas terror group is no longer capable of maintaining an organized fighting force in the Gaza Strip after more than 11 months of war.

“Hamas as a military formation no longer exists. Hamas is engaged in guerrilla warfare and we are still fighting Hamas terrorists and pursuing Hamas leadership,” he told foreign journalists at his office at Israel Defense Forces headquarters in Tel Aviv, according to AFP‘s account. The remarks were released for publication on Tuesday.

He made the comments in the context of promoting a potential ceasefire agreement that would see the 101 remaining hostages, both alive and dead, released in exchange for many more Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons.

Gallant said bringing the hostages home is “the right thing to do.”

“Achieving an agreement is also a strategic opportunity that gives us a high chance to change the security situation on all fronts,” he added, with the Jewish state also facing threats from Iran’s regional proxies, including in the north from Hezbollah.

Hamas started the war on Oct. 7, 2023 when the terror group led a mass invasion of Israel’s northwestern Negev, murdering, wounding and committing atrocities against thousands, and abducting at least 250.

Gallant urged the international community to continue to pressure Hamas to agree to the deal on the table, and said he consented to the first stage of the three-phase agreement announced by U.S. President Joe Biden on May 31.

“Israel should achieve an agreement that will bring about a pause for six weeks and bring back hostages,” he said.
IDF video shows ‘horrific conditions’ in tunnel where 6 hostages were held, executed
Footage showing the inside of a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip where six Israeli hostages were murdered by Hamas terrorists last month and their bodies found and recovered by Israeli troops two days later, was released by the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday.

The video showed IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari giving a tour of the claustrophobic underground passageway in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood. The tunnel was seen littered with bottles of urine, women’s clothes, and large blood stains on the ground, where the hostages were murdered.

Hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi were executed in the tunnel by their captors on August 29, before being discovered by troops on August 31.

Alongside the footage, the IDF released new details of the tunnel and the operation to find the bodies of the six murdered Israelis, including that they were being held only some 700 meters away from where another hostage had been rescued alive days earlier.

The tunnel where their bodies were found is a narrow 120-meter-long passageway — not tall enough to stand in without bending over — that connected parts of a large underground network in the Tel Sultan neighborhood, which according to the IDF belonged to Hamas’s Rafah Brigade.

The tunnel network was one of the largest underground complexes found by the army in Gaza to date, military sources said.

Inside the tunnel, located some 20 meters underground, the IDF found food and equipment that it assessed were used by the Hamas terrorists and the Israeli hostages to survive underground for extended periods.

According to IDF sources, the supplies were enough to survive in the tunnel for at least several weeks.

Among the items found in the tunnel were dried food, water, a bucket used as a makeshift toilet, numerous bottles of urine, mattresses, and assault rifle magazines.

The video was shown to the families recently and to members of the Israeli cabinet.

“The tunnel shaft was in a children’s room, in a house,” Hagari said in the video, pointing to Disney characters painted on the walls above the 20-meter-deep shaft. “Snow White and Mickey Mouse on the wall, [above] a tunnel shaft, where the hostages were murdered downstairs,” he said.

“Here you see their blood on the floor. Here you see their last moments, and here they were brutally murdered,” a visibly sweating Hagari said in a Hebrew-language version of the video, while inside the tunnel.

“They were here in this tunnel in horrific conditions, where there is no air to breathe, where you cannot stand. They survived, but they were murdered by terrorists,” Hagari said in an English-language video.


Israel Air Force strikes Hamas terrorists hiding in Khan Yunis humanitarian zone
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck Hamas terrorists Samer Ismail Khadr Abu Daqqa, Ayman Mabhouh, and Osama Tabesh in a strike in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, the military said on Tuesday.

The terrorists were operating within a terrorist command and control center embedded in a designated humanitarian area of Khan Yunis, the IDF added.

The military specified that Mabhouh was a senior Hamas terrorist, Abu Daqqa was the head of Hamas’s Aerial Unit in Gaza, and Tabesh served as chief of the Observation and Targets Department in the terror group's Military Intelligence Headquarters.

The military further noted that all three had been directly involved in the October 7 massacre and had carried out attacks against IDF troops and the state of Israel.

Prior to the strike, the military assured that numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional means.

The terrorists, located in a designated Humanitarian Zone, had been identified by ISA intelligence. Prior to the strike, aerial surveillance ascertained that the terrorists were in the area.

The IDF noted that the numbers cited by the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza regarding the casualties in the strike were not in line with the data the military had, the precise munition used in the strike, and the accuracy with which the strike had been carried out.

Earlier, the IDF announced the IAF had struck “significant” Hamas terrorist members.
Israel rejects Hamas claim of mass casualties in Khan Yunis strike
Hamas authorities claimed that more than 40 people were killed and at least 60 others wounded in the attack, with many remaining missing as rescue workers continued to search the area. The IDF refuted the figures, citing the terror organization’s history of making up and distorting statistics.

“According to an initial review, the numbers published by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza, which has consistently broadcast lies and false information throughout the war, do not align with the information held by the IDF, the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike,” the military said.

Reuters cited “residents and medics” in Gaza who said that at least four missiles struck the tent encampment in the Al-Mawasi area near Khan Yunis. The Hamas-run Gaza civil emergency service told the news agency that at least 20 tents caught fire and that the missiles had left craters at least 30 feet deep.

The IDF accused Hamas of continuing to endanger noncombatants by conducting terrorist activities from within safe zones.

“Despite the extensive measures taken by the IDF to enable the Gazan population to move away from combat zones, including by designating a Humanitarian Area, the Hamas terrorist organization continues to embed its operatives and military infrastructure in the Humanitarian Area and systematically use Gazan civilians as a human shield for its terrorist activities,” the IDF statement concluded.


IDF says it killed Hezbollah commander behind many attacks on Israel
The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday said it killed a commander in Lebanese terror group Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force with a drone strike deep in Lebanon.

According to the IDF, Muhammad Qassem al-Shaer was involved in many attacks on Israel. The military said his killing “is another blow to the ability of the Hezbollah terror organization to advance and carry out terror attacks from southern Lebanon against the Israeli home front on the northern border.”

The IDF announcement confirmed earlier reports alleging a deadly Israeli drone strike in the Beqaa Valley.

Hezbollah also said that al-Shaer had been killed, but did not give any details of his role within the Iran-backed group.

It was the latest development in an escalating conflict that started when Hezbollah began attacking Israel along the northern border last October.

Al-Shaer was targeted on a road near Lake Qaraoun in the Beqaa Valley, some 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the Israeli border.

The IDF published footage of the strike.

Al-Shaer’s death brings the terror group’s death toll in IDF strikes since October to at least 434, among them several commanders in the Radwan force.

The Radwan force is believed by Israeli officials to be tasked with potentially infiltrating the country.


Senior US official: Hezbollah must be permanently distanced from border
A senior American official is backing Israel’s stance on the conditions required to end the conflict affecting northern Israel, stating, “We cannot return to the status quo of Oct. 6. A ceasefire with Lebanon alone is not enough, because Hezbollah will return to the border.”

The American official spoke at the Middle East-America Dialogue (MEAD) conference, which concluded on Monday in Washington, D.C., where he emphasized that to prevent a scenario in which Israel faces an invasion from the Lebanese border, “an agreement is needed that will prevent Hezbollah’s return to the border.”

He added that beyond the security arrangements at the border itself, additional components are necessary in the agreement to ensure its enforcement and implementation—unlike U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which was adopted at the end of the Second Lebanon War but, according to him, “both sides failed to implement.”

The American official said that a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah can be prevented, but if it breaks out, the price will be heavy for both sides.

“Thousands, maybe tens of thousands, will die. There will be severe infrastructure damage. On your side (Israel), Hezbollah won’t be easily destroyed, and you likely won’t achieve most of your objectives. The war will last a long time, and many people on both sides will die. The residents of northern Israel won’t be returning home anytime soon, and such a war will eventually end with an agreement similar to the one we are now trying to reach. That’s why we are working to secure this agreement now.”
IDF: ‘High probability’ US-Turkish citizen killed by ‘unintended’ gunfire
An initial Israel Defense Forces probe found that a dual U.S.-Turkish citizen killed on Friday was likely accidentally struck by troops’ gunfire during a riot near Nablus (Shechem) in Samaria.

The investigation determined “with high probability” that the woman, 26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, was killed by “indirect and unintended IDF fire, which was aimed at a main instigator,” according to the military.

“The incident occurred during a violent gathering of dozens of Palestinian suspects, who burned tires and threw stones at forces at the Beita Junction,” added the IDF.

Eygi was an activist with the anti-Israel International Solidarity Movement.

“We deplore this tragic loss,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, while offering his “deepest condolences” to Eygi’s family.

“First things first—let’s find out exactly what happened, and we will draw the necessary conclusions and consequences from that. When we have more info, we will share it, make it available and, as necessary, we’ll act on it,” he said.

Ankara described the incident as a “murder committed by the Netanyahu government,” with a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement adding: “Israel is trying to intimidate all those who come to the aid of the Palestinian people and who fight peacefully against the genocide. This policy of violence will not work.”

A Military Police probe has been launched into the incident, and Israeli officials have submitted a request to carry out an autopsy, the IDF said.

“The IDF expresses its deepest regret over the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi,”it added.
Blinken demands overhaul of Israeli conduct in West Bank after killing of US protester
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday demanded an overhaul of Israeli military conduct in the occupied West Bank, bemoaning the fatal shooting of an American protester against settlement expansion, which Israel said was accidental.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, who is also a Turkish national, was shot dead last Friday at a protest march in Beita, a village near Nablus where Palestinians have been repeatedly attacked by far-right Jewish settlers.

Israel's military said on Tuesday that it was highly likely its troops had fired the shot that killed her but that her death was unintentional, and it voiced deep regret.

Strongest criticism
In his strongest comments to date criticizing the security forces of Washington's closest Middle East ally, Blinken described Eygi's killing as "unprovoked and unjustified." He said Washington would insist to the Israeli government that it makes changes to how its forces operate in the West Bank.

"No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views," he told reporters in London.

"In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement.

"Now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It's not acceptable," he said.

An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment on Blinken's remarks.

In a statement, the Israeli military said its commanders had conducted an investigation into the incident and found that the gunfire was not aimed at her but another individual it called "the key instigator of the riot."

"The incident took place during a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks towards security forces at the Beita Junction," it said.

Israel has sent a request to Palestinian authorities to carry out an autopsy, it said.


IDF confirms it mistakenly killed three hostages in Gaza city bombing
The IDF confirmed publicly on Tuesday that it mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages along with Hamas northern Gaza brigade chief Ahmed Ghandour in November, which, until now, officials had only hinted to.

Back in December, the IDF revealed finding five hostage bodies, three of which related to the incident in question.

Unlike the IDF’s usual briefing, it did not blame Hamas for their deaths and dropped hints that its airstrike might have killed the three hostages but said it would not confirm anything until after a forensics probe.

Overnight between Monday and Tuesday, the IDF finally confirmed that it had killed the three when Channel 12 reported the military had passed on the information to the hostage families but was withholding an announcement from the public.

The IDF disputed Channel 12’s characterization of a cover-up but has not provided a coherent explanation as to why it did not publicize the probe results to the public.

Already in December, the IDF disclosed the background behind its finding of five bodies of hostages held by Hamas in a tunnel near Jabalya in northern Gaza.

New details on December incident
Around December 12, the IDF found two bodies, and three days later, it found three more bodies in another area nearby. At the time, it only announced the finding of the first two bodies.

The tunnel reached a size that included a large elevator, large rooms, and split into side rooms, such as command centers, medical stations, prayer rooms, and rooms for manufacturing weapons.

An IDF source said that finding the bodies required a mix of preexisting intelligence that headquarters possessed, along with intelligence collected in real time in the field, including forensic methods.

The tunnel was so large that though the bodies were all within one general tunnel area, they were in very different portions of the tunnel.

The five bodies include Eden Zakaria and Ziv Dado, who were announced on December 12, as well as Elia Toledano, Nik Beizer, and Ron Sherman – the three killed by the IDF with Ghandour.


ILTV's Insider | The Western Response to Terror - What Have We Learned?
In today’s episode of ILTV’s Insider, Editor Stev Leibowitz sits with Head of NGO Monitor Dr. Gerald Steinberg and British Military Expert Maj. (ret.) Andrew Fox. Together, they compare the American-led fight against terrorism following the September 11th attack with Israel's fight against Hamas, today.

How has Israel changed in the last 11 months of war, and what lies ahead? Watch Insider to find out.


NGO Monitor Webinar with Col. Richard Kemp and Major Andrew Fox
Allegations of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” are key features of NGO and UN lawfare campaigns. For instance, NGOs accuse Israel of “indiscriminate” and “disproportionate attacks", and decry the use of munitions such as “white phosphorus” and “2000 lb bombs”. Despite the facade of expertise, NGOs do not possess the requisite knowledge of military operations or weapons systems. This webinar will discuss the importance of military expertise in assessing the legality of military operations and how NGO claims, particularly in the current conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah, feed into anti-Israel narratives, BDS, and attacks on Israel at the ICC.

Col. Richard Kemp: Commander of the Order of the British Empire. During his final period of military duty, he was head of international terrorism and Chair of the COBRA intelligence Group, where he handled all major global terrorist attacks, including those against British interests.

Major Andrew Fox: Former British Army officer who completed three tours in Afghanistan, including one attached to the U.S. Army Special Forces. He also served in Bosnia, Northern Ireland, and the Middle East. He is a recent senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and currently serves as a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society focusing on defense, the Middle East, and disinformation.


Melanie Phillips discusses IDF strikes on a Hamas command post near Khan Yunis on LiveNOW From FOX.
Melanie Phillips, British journalist, broadcaster, author, and weekly columnist for JNS, is interviewed by Jeané Franseen on LiveNOW From FOX on an overnight strike on a Hamas command center near Khan Younis.

Three senior Hamas operatives were among the terrorists killed in the strike, carried out by Israeli Air Force fighter jets acting under the direction of the Israel Security Agency and the IDF, according to JNS.


‘Grossly unfair’: Douglas Murray hits out at BBC over Gaza coverage
Author Douglas Murray has accused the BBC of pushing an “anti-Israel bias” as he hit out at the British public broadcaster over its coverage of the war in Gaza.

“There's a straightforward editorial line on the Israel issue which is that the BBC believes that Israel always is in the wrong and can do no right and its coverage is grossly unfair,” Mr Murray told Sky News host Rita Panahi.

“It has been for years, and I think this is something that should be addressed.

“I mean, you see it in headline after headline, day after day, the BBC will report things from effectively the angle of Hamas.”


Caroline Glick: It's Not About 'Peace' and This Proves It
In this episode of "In-Focus," JNS senior contributing editor Caroline Glick investigates and exposes the real intentions of the Biden administration’s insistence on the "two-state solution" for Israel and the Palestinians.

Tune in and learn about the history of the Palestinian Authority, the propping up of warlords disguised as statesmen and the insidious nature of the left’s behavior during the ongoing war against the Hamas terrorist organization.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro/terror wave
9:15 U.S. Ambassador Jack Lew
11:00 A Judenrein "Palestine"
15:00 Background: Mohammed Dahlan & the P.A.
28:00 Why Dahlan?
32:30 Corralling Israelis
40:30 Two-state delusion
50:00 Leftist fervor


The Israel Guys: Exclusive Security Briefing With Member Of Knesset Ohad Tal
Hear the latest security developments here in Israel straight from the source. Joshua sits down with Knesset and Security Council member Ohad Tal to discuss everything from the Philadelphi corridor to the threat of a full scale Iranian attack.


The Israel Guys: MASSIVE ISRAELI STRIKE in Syria, and Escalation in ISRAEL’S NORTH
Israel carried out massive airstrikes in Syria last night targeting a critical military base used for purposes we’ll get into in the show. This comes as Hezbollah launches another barrage of missiles at Israel, and manages to strike a high-rise building in Naharia with a drone. Also Iran ramps things up on the world stage and Israel makes a breakthrough in their Iron Beam technology.


Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan convicted of rape on appeal in Switzerland
Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, who has been convicted of rape by a Geneva appeals court and sentenced to prison, will contest the verdict before Switzerland's highest court, his lawyers said on Tuesday.

After being acquitted last year, a Geneva appeals court said Tuesday it had found the 62-year-old former Oxford University professor "guilty of rape and sexual coercion" of a woman in a Geneva hotel 16 years ago.

It sentenced him to three years in prison, two of them suspended, marking the first guilty verdict against Ramadan, who faces a string of rape allegations in Switzerland and France.

A charismatic yet controversial figure in European Islam, he has always maintained his innocence, and his lawyers immediately announced that he would take the case to Switzerland's highest court.

"It will be up to the Federal Court to rule on this case, to uphold justice and recognise this man's innocence," Yael Hayat and Guerric Canonica said in a statement to AFP.

Lawyers for the plaintiff in the case -- a Muslim convert identified only as "Brigitte" -- said they were relieved "the truth had finally triumphed", insisting they were not worried about the new appeal.

"Our client is of course relieved, considering what she has had to endure for the truth to come out," the woman's lawyers Veronique Fontana and Robert Assael told AFP.

- 'Trap' -
Their client had testified before the court that he subjected her to rape and other violent sex acts in a Geneva hotel room during the night of October 28, 2008.

The lawyer representing Brigitte said she was repeatedly raped and subjected to "torture and barbarism".

Ramadan said Brigitte invited herself up to his room. He let her kiss him, he said, before quickly ending the encounter.

He said he was the victim of a "trap".

Brigitte, who was in her forties at the time of the alleged assault, filed her complaint 10 years later, telling the court she felt emboldened to come forward following similar complaints filed against Ramadan in France.

Ramadan's Swiss lawyers insisted that the appeals court verdict, which was handed down on August 28 but only made public on Tuesday, had little to do with the facts of the case.




Call for ‘unacceptable’ Gaza march on Yom Kippur to be postponed
The Community Security Trust (CST) is calling on the government to urgently intervene in plans for a major anti-Israel march scheduled to occur on Yom Kippur.

The demonstration, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), is due to take place in central London on October 12, when members of the Jewish community will be attending synagogues in the area for a full day of prayer on the holiest day of the year.

The march is set to begin at 12pm, raising concerns within the community about the impact of demonstrations on Jewish congregants as they leave the morning service.

David Rich, the Director of Policy at the CST, has demanded that the march must under no circumstances pass by any central London shuls and has advised that the demonstration be rescheduled entirely to avoid worshippers feeling intimidated.

He said: “The prospect of an anti-Israel demonstration taking place anywhere near the central London synagogues on Yom Kippur – the holiest day of the Jewish year and just a few days after the October 7 anniversary – when synagogue services are going on all day and congregants will be walking to and from synagogue, is completely unacceptable.”

The activist group is behind many of the pro-Palestine protests that have erupted across the country since October 7. Antisemitic chants and pro-Hamas placards have often featured in the demonstrations.

On Saturday’s anti-Israel march – the eighteenth organised by the PSC since October 7 – six demonstrators were arrested for offences including “racially aggravated Public Order offences in relation to signs and a gesture”, “criminal damage”, and “assault”, according to the Met Police.

“Every time there is a large anti-Israel march, it includes people carrying antisemitic placards, chanting for Israel to be eliminated and supporting Hamas,” said Rich.

“It would be completely wrong and grossly insensitive for another such march to go anywhere near a synagogue on Yom Kippur, or to disturb Jewish people on their way to and from synagogue on such a solemn day.”

The Met deputy chief, Matt Twist, recently admitted that mistakes had been made in the policing of the Gaza marches and that certain arrests had not been made quickly enough.
Palestinian migrant accused of beating Jewish LI man, stealing flag crossed US border illegally
A self-described Palestinian migrant accused of beating a Long Island Jewish man had been nabbed months earlier illegally crossing into the US and was almost immediately released.

Bechir Lehbeib, 26, of Mauritania sneaked across the southern border into Lukeville, Ariz., on July 20, 2023, with a group of more than 200 people, according to a House Judiciary Committee report on the migrant’s file exclusively obtained by The Post.

Lehbeib was released on his own recognizance two days later — after claiming he “feared” for his safety in his home country, the report said.

He made his way to New York, where in February, he allegedly stole a pro-Israel flag from a porch in Hewlett in Nassau County — before attacking the homeowner who tried to stop him.

The victim, Aleksandr Binyaminov, told The Post that one of his wife’s relatives was killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel.

“I told him, ‘Give me the flags,’ and he just started fighting with me and punching me in my face,” Binyaminov recalled at the time.

“He basically got me in a choke position, threw me on the floor and headbutted me. He was saying, ‘I’m from Palestine.’ “

When Lehbeib was arrested, he allegedly told cops: “If I see the flag of the people that killed my people, we will have a problem.”

The accused migrant was hit with hate-crime charges of second-degree assault and robbery and criminal mischief and was detained on a $50,000 bond.

“This is happening because of open borders, and before letting people in, we need to see their backgrounds. We need to protect our country, our citizens, our taxpayers,” Binyaminov said at the time.




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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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