Monday, October 14, 2024

10/14 Links Pt1: Israel’s best strategic position in decades; UNIFIL’s failure means it must leave or reform; Hezbollah drone attack on IDF base marks major escalation

From Ian:

Israel’s best strategic position in decades
Likewise, on Israel’s northern border, the threat of Hezbollah’s rocket arsenal prevented Israel from taking offensive action. The thought of another conflict with Hezbollah was enough to paralyze decision-makers, including senior IDF commanders, intelligence officials, and political leaders Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid. They were ready to throw in the towel and stop a war with Lebanon. But Netanyahu didn’t listen to those voices. In a series of daring, James Bond-like operations, Israel took out Hezbollah’s mid-level leadership with precision-targeted attacks that eliminated its command structure.

These strikes were a turning point in the war against Hezbollah, whose long-range rocket attacks are also being disrupted. And as it did in Gaza, the IDF is systematically dismantling Hezbollah’s vast tunnel network and confiscating weapons the terror group stored to use in a massive infiltration, which would have been worse than the Oct. 7 attack.

In another display of daring, Netanyahu took out Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the heart of Beirut. He did so without informing the Biden administration and, in true Israeli fashion, aimed to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. (And for the record, rather than forgiveness, the United States owes Israel its thanks for eliminating an evil dictator with American blood on his hands.)

Despite the pain and tragedy of Oct. 7, Israel is in a far better situation strategically than it has been at any time since its founding in 1948. Sadly, it took the horrors of that fateful day to awaken the Jewish spirit and finally do what was needed to defend ourselves. Today, we are a stronger, better-prepared nation, ready to face our enemies.

Netanyahu’s leadership has been instrumental in achieving this reality. He has demonstrated that Israel will not be bullied or dictated to when it comes to its survival. As the only freedom-loving country in the region, Israel is willing to take on Iran, the largest state sponsor of terror in the world, and destroy its capabilities, which threatens not just Israel but the entire region.

Israel is at the point where it can take the fight to its enemies. The threat of Hamas in Gaza is being neutralized, Hezbollah’s infrastructure is being dismantled and offensive strikes are also destroying terrorist strongholds in Judea and Samaria. Israel is no longer waiting for the next attack. Rather, it is taking the upper hand to prevent future attacks.

As we begin the new Jewish year, we begin it with hope. Israel is safer and stronger, having taken decisive action to ensure a more secure future, not just for itself but for the entire Middle East and the freedom-loving world. The pain, mourning and trauma of Oct. 7 continues, along with a stronger Israel that is shaping the future of the region and the world with a renewed sense of purpose.
Alan Dershowitz: President Biden Can Still Save the World in His Remaining Time in Office
"[I]n 1933 a French premier ought to have said (and if I had been the French premier I would have said it): 'The new Reich Chancellor is the man who wrote Mein Kampf, which says this and that. This man cannot be tolerated in our vicinity. Either he disappears or we march!' But they didn't do it. They left us alone and let us slip through the risky zone, and we were able to sail around all dangerous reefs. And when we were done, and well-armed, better than they, then they started the war!" — Joseph Goebbels, Germany's Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda from 1933-1945.

Obama has been the "Chamberlain" in this 21st-century version of Great Britain's and France's appeasement of an evil and dangerous regime.

The Biden administration has extended Obama's destructive policy, resulting in an even stronger and more dangerous Iran. Under the Trump administration, Iran was considerably weakened economically and thus militarily. Now it is on the verge of acquiring a nuclear arsenal which will allow its proxies to operate under the protection of Iran's nuclear umbrella.

The other step that Biden could take would be to work with Israel on preventing Iran from developing a nuclear arsenal. Unfortunately, this cannot be achieved by more treaties or negotiations. As recent history shows, Iran will simply cheat, as it did after Obama's 2015 JCPOA "nuclear deal." The only way to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is through a military attack against its nuclear facilities, many of which are very deep underground. This can be achieved through U.S.-Israeli military and intelligence cooperation.

Israel should not give up any military advantage in exchange for intangible promises. Just look at how Russia violated its commitment, in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine in exchange for the latter giving up its nuclear weapons. Ukraine gave the weapons up; in 2014 and 2022, Russia invaded anyway.

Although the United States, even as far back as the Obama administration, has pledged to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear arsenal, there is no reason why Iran should believe that, considering US appeasement tactics under Democratic administrations.

So the only realistic alternative – the least bad among the series of not very good alternatives – is a joint military attack, as surgical as possible, on Iran's nearly-completed nuclear weapons program. To allow Iran to cross the threshold and acquire nuclear weapons would pose a catastrophic threat to world peace. Stopping Iran from having a nuclear arsenal would, on the other hand, be a great accomplishment and a lasting positive legacy for the Biden presidency.

The result of inaction will be a terrorist regime with a nuclear arsenal, followed by a global nuclear-arms race. The fault for such a dangerous outcome will lie squarely with the "Chamberlain" Democrats.
UNIFIL’s failure means it must leave or reform
Hezbollah’s use of UNIFIL as a human shield not only endangers the peacekeeping force but also hampers Israel’s ability to defend itself from Hezbollah’s aggression. On Oct. 12, according to Shoshani, an IDF tank carrying wounded soldiers backed a few meters into a UNIFIL post because it was under fire and dealing with a mass-casualty event involving the evacuation of dozens of wounded soldiers.

“Again we were communicating with them. They [UNIFIL] were in their safe area. No UNIFIL people were in danger at the time of the event because of our communications with them,” he stressed. “Every time we operate in the area against Hezbollah, we give them [UNIFIL] a heads up to make sure they have a chance to get out of harm’s way or to go to the safe areas that they have in their posts.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s Oct. 13 visit to Israel’s northern border further underscores the severity of Hezbollah’s military buildup in Southern Lebanon, which was totally ignored by UNIFIL and absent from its annual reports.

Gallant toured IDF operations aimed at dismantling Hezbollah’s tunnels and weapon stockpiles, which included hundreds of RPGs, munitions and anti-tank missiles. Hezbollah has established extensive military infrastructure in Southern Lebanon, including sophisticated missile-launching systems capable of targeting Israeli civilians with pinpoint accuracy. Don’t expect to find any of these weapons or plans for a mass-murder invasion of northern Israel in UNIFIL’s reports.

Gallant emphasized the IDF’s mission to dismantle these immediate threats, noting that Hezbollah launchers, located in civilian areas, could strike Israeli homes in seconds. Yet, UNIFIL has consistently overlooked these violations.

UNIFIL’s inability to prevent Hezbollah from rearming and operating freely in southern Lebanon has rendered its mission a failure. As such, its two logical choices should be to either leave the area, where it is doing more harm than good, or to seriously reform. The status quo, in which an international community convinces itself that its faux peacekeepers are contributing to stability in Lebanon, should not continue, as it has benefited Hezbollah almost exclusively.

The mounting evidence of Hezbollah’s exploitation of UNIFIL positions, combined with the force’s inability to report or monitor these violations, demonstrates that UNIFIL’s presence is not only ineffective but dangerous.

The situation calls for immediate decisions. UNIFIL must either adapt to the current realities on the ground or withdraw entirely from Southern Lebanon. A reformed UNIFIL, as suggested by the Alma Center in July, would involve a shift from its current model of a large force of 10,000 personnel to a more agile, reporting-driven approach. This would involve developing capabilities for Access, Reporting and Communication (ARC), allowing UNIFIL to monitor and report violations in real time, rather than serving as a static and vulnerable presence.

However, any discussion of dismantling Hezbollah’s military infrastructure will likely require international supervision beyond UNIFIL, which has proven unwilling to confront Hezbollah directly.

Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Washington D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former U.S. Army officer who taught at West Point, stated on a webinar on Oct. 3, “What’s going to happen when the IDF leaves? Well of course we know what’s going to happen: Hezbollah is going to move back in, and you can’t count on the UNFIL forces to do anything of course, if past is prologue. So that means Israel will have to have the means, the weapons, and the political permission, if you will, to periodically go back into Lebanon as necessary to take things out. And that’s where the United States comes in.”


Douglas Murray: UN peacekeeping troops failing Israel as Hezbollah creates terror tunnels right under their noses
Now that we know that Hezbollah was planning an Oct. 7-style attack from the north, it is clear that this was one of their ways to break into Israel, just like their friends in Hamas broke in from the south.

The Hezbollah terrorists who recently left this camp left other things behind, too: pipe bombs, other explosives, many rounds of bullets.

The writing on these items shows where they came from. And how recently.

There are items — including medical kits — that show they were acquired in the last year from Iran. But there are other items that reveal that new weaponry has also arrived from Russia and North Korea.

The Israeli military tells me that in this portion of Lebanon alone, it has already found more than 700 caches of weapons like this.

It is testament to the hundreds of millions of dollars that Hezbollah has spent on building up its terror infrastructure, destroying the lives of the people of Lebanon as well as Israel. That includes $1 billion each year from the revolutionary government in Iran.

With typical cynicism, the hiding place has water and electric connections to two nearby Lebanese villages.

This puts the lives of these villagers at risk. But of course Hezbollah doesn’t care. Guided by its paymasters in Iran, it has simply been intent on a war of annihilation against Israel.

That war may be about to heat up again this week. But if it does, a great deal of the blame should go to precisely those international bodies that preach the importance of “cease-fire” and “peace.”

There would be no need for another war in Lebanon if the UN had actually done its job for the past 18 years.

As I drive south from the border, rockets start to land again all over northern and central Israel — leaving some 67 people in the Jewish state wounded in Haifa.

And the sound of Israel’s response rings out, too. The UN will now castigate Israel and America for not implementing a cease-fire in the region.

On the basis of what I have just seen, perhaps someone should remind the UN that it helped start this fire.


Democrats’ decades of bargaining have only empowered Iran’s tyrannical leaders — and made us less safe
From Bill Clinton to Barack Obama to Joe Biden, Democratic presidents have been wooed by the false hope of a “grand bargain” with Iran. It has done nothing but embolden the mullahs and make Americans less safe, Kenneth R. Timmerman writes in his new book, “The Iran House: Tales of Revolution, Persecution, War, and Intrigue,” out now. Here, the senior fellow at the America First Policy Institute, explains how things have gone wrong.

For decades, Democrat Party power brokers have believed in the misguided dream that peace with Iran’s tyrannical leaders is possible — and instead made the world a more dangerous place.

An early iteration of the pro-Tehran lobby was run by a former communist named Hooshang Amirahmadi. His group, the American Iranian Congress, AIC, was launched in the mid-1990s and funded by energy company Conoco in the hopes they could convince President Bill Clinton to allow them to develop the massive oil and gas fields in Iran.

Despite the imposition of US sanctions on trade with Iran since the hostage crisis of the 1970s, AIC and like-minded groups continued to lobby in favor of doing business with Tehran.

Clinton tried to negotiate a back-door deal with Tehran just before the 2000 election.

If it had been successful, the pact not only would have lifted sanctions and reopened US trade with Iran, but would have paid Iran billions of dollars as “reimbursements.”

The deal died, but the dream didn’t.

While George W. Bush was in power, Iranian groups continued to cultivate Democrats with an eye on a grand bargain.

In 2002, a doctor named Sadegh Namazi-khah hosted a fundraiser in California that raised $30,000 for then-Sen. Joe Biden’s re-election campaign. Biden was then chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

“The senator said that Iran always wanted to be an ally of the United States and to have good relations with the US,” one participant said.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) was another prominent supporter of the Iranian regime. Kerry came out squarely in favor of “engaging” the Islamic Republic, helping the regime to join the World Trade Organization, and of removing visa restrictions on Iranians that were imposed after Sept. 11.

Kerry’s daughter Vanessa went on to marry an Iranian American and spent her honeymoon visiting his relatives in Iran when Kerry was secretary of state, not long before he initiated secret talks with the regime that led to the infamous 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.

Amirahmadi, the founder and chairman of AIC, was soon surpassed by a former aide named Trita Parsi, who came to America from Sweden in 2001.

The following year, Parsi set up the National Iranian American Council, NIAC.

Appeasement
Instead of Big Oil, NIAC’s backers were the left-wing Ploughshares Fund, the Open Society Institute of George Soros and the Tides Foundation, funded in part by John Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz.

NIAC claimed to have thousands of members across the United States who were appalled at the human suffering sanctions allegedly were imposing on ordinary Iranians.

And while their numbers were undoubtedly much smaller, they were tremendously savvy in pushing those claims on witting and unwitting members of Congress.

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Its goals were to prevent a US military strike on Iran, to get US and international sanctions lifted and to promote a “grand bargain” with Iran’s clerical leadership.

With the election of Barack Obama and his pro-Iranian regime vice president, Joe Biden, NIAC felt the wind in its sails.
Iran's Illicit Oil Revenue Swells to Nearly $200 Billion Since Biden-Harris Took Office, Latest Figures and Estimates Show
Iran’s illicit oil revenue has swelled to nearly $200 billion under the Biden-Harris administration, according to the latest government figures and expert estimates, a windfall driven by the perennially lax enforcement of U.S. sanctions that has helped Tehran’s hardline regime obtain the cash needed to fund a brutal year-long war on Israel.

The full financial toll of this sanctions relief only became clear in recent days following the publication of a hotly anticipated U.S. government report on Iran's oil trade. The U.S. Energy Information Administration, a government agency that monitors global markets, was mandated under an April 2024 law to publicly tally Iran’s oil revenue, providing one of the first official snapshots after four years of sparse sanctions enforcement by the Biden-Harris administration.

The report, released late last week, found that Iran made $144 billion in revenue during the first three years of the Biden-Harris administration. This includes $37 billion in 2021, significantly up from the $16 billion Tehran made in 2020, the last year of the Trump administration. Oil revenue rose to $54 billion in 2022 and hit $53 billion in 2023, showing that Tehran’s trade in crude remained at historically high levels.

Iran is on pace for another big year in 2024, exporting more than $34 billion in oil through October, according to figures compiled by United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI), an advocacy group that monitors Tehran's global oil shipments through a comprehensive tanker tracker.

The figures could explain why the Biden-Harris administration, facing criticism over the increasing chaos in the Middle East under its watch, announced late Friday a new package of sanctions on Iran’s petroleum exports. The measures grant broad authority for the American government to impose "sanctions against any person determined to operate in the petroleum or petrochemical sectors of the Iranian economy," according to the State Department.

Claire Jungman, director of UANI’s Iran Tanker Tracking Program, said the latest figures produced by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as well as her group's 2024 estimate, should serve as a "catalyst for the administration to enforce sanctions more aggressively on vessels transporting Iranian oil."

"The illicit activity detailed in the report underscores the need for firm action to hold these vessels accountable and ensure that sanctions are effectively implemented to curtail Iran’s ability to export oil in violation of U.S. sanctions," Jungman said.
GLOVES OFF! Israel Prepares To PUSH BACK On All Fronts | Jerusalem Minute
On Sunday night, a Hezbollah drone from Lebanon got through Israel's air defenses, killing four soldiers and wounding dozens. JNS CEO and Jerusalem bureau chief Alex Traiman and Middle East correspondent Josh Hasten explain how this could happen and what it means for the Jewish state's fight for survival.

They also talk about Iran’s apparent knowledge of Hamas’s plans for Oct. 7; why Israel may be waiting to strike back at Iran; how Biden is shielding Beirut; the American THAAD anti-ballistic missile system being dispatched to Israel; UNIFIL exposed in Lebanon; another drone attack on Yom Kippur; Houthis continue threats; and Israel strategizes in Gaza.


Caroline Glick: Get Ready! Understanding Israel’s Next Moves
Israel is in a race against time to respond to Iran’s ballistic missile attack and maintain the momentum that began about a month ago in its war for survival. Meanwhile, all the usual suspects in the West are hellbent on reining in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vision of a post Oct. 7 Middle East where the Jewish state keeps the upper hand.

Will Jerusalem bend or will Netanyahu push forward towards victory against Iran and its proxies? JNS senior contributing editor Caroline Glick discusses all this and more on this episode of "In-Focus."

Chapters
00:00 Israel's Strategic Dilemma Post-Iran Attack
02:46 The Shift in Middle Eastern Power Dynamics
06:03 Hezbollah's Leadership and Israel's Military Strategy
09:09 The Sunni Arab Perspective on Israel's Actions
11:51 The U.S. Role in Middle Eastern Conflicts
15:04 Netanyahu's Vision for a New Middle East
18:08 The Countdown to November 5: Strategic Implications


Tim Walz Called To Eliminate Spending on National Missile Defense
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz said in a 2006 survey that he would eliminate federal funding for national missile defense, a technology experts say is crucial to fending off a Chinese or Russian attack on the United States.

Walz said he put a great deal of time and effort into filling out the survey, in which he laid out his views on a series of national security and other policy issues.

"I took the time, in about three hours, to fill out every single portion of that questionnaire in great detail," Walz said in a 2006 congressional debate. In that survey, from the non-partisan group Vote Smart, Walz also indicated he opposed "a policy of pre-emptive military strikes against countries deemed to be a threat to U.S. national security."

Walz's responses reflect decades of skepticism from many Democrats toward domestic missile defense and put him in the dovish wing of the Democratic Party.

The United States maintains a number of domestic missile defense sites through the Missile Defense Agency. The former director of the Pentagon’s Office of Missile Defense policy, Peppi DeBiaso, credits those sites with protecting the country against a potential long-range missile attack.

Detractors of domestic missile defense, DeBiaso wrote in a 2022 Center for Strategic and International Studies essay, discount "the contribution missile defense makes to U.S. deterrence and defense strategy," particularly with relation to North Korea and Iran.

The technology is also essential to the protection of American allies. In fact, the Department of Defense on Sunday authorized the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, known as THAAD, to bolster Israel’s domestic missile defense capabilities as the Jewish state plans an attack on Iran.

"THAAD has been proven in combat operationally and has a great test record," an expert on missile defense at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Tom Karako, told the Wall Street Journal.


Spanish PM urges EU to accept bid to end free trade with Israel
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday urged other members of the European Union to respond to his country’s and Ireland’s request to suspend the bloc’s free trade agreement with Israel over its actions in Gaza and Lebanon.

For months, Spain and Ireland have been in talks with other EU countries that want a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the basis that Israel may be breaching the agreement’s human rights clause.

The agreement stipulates that free trade between the EU and Israel will be “based on respect for human rights and democratic principles” but does not detail what actions would be considered violations of the agreement.

Sanchez’s comments come days after he urged the international community to stop selling weapons to Israel, citing injuries to members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.


Guterres’s hypocrisy: Condemning Israel while shielding aggressors
Once again, it’s Antonio Guterres, the man who is the secretary-general of the world, and a leading antisemite on the planet, who outshines the world’s Jew-haters and steals the show again this month.

The Iranian missile attack on Israel did not leave him indifferent, and with the conclusion of the Iranian ground-to-ground missile launches, Guterres fired his own ground-missile of imagination in the form of a feeble and weightless condemnation.

He expressed concern over the escalation and demanded a ceasefire, but conveniently forgot to mention that the escalation was one-sided, that Iran is the aggressor and Israel is the one being attacked.

A person who consumed their news through Guterres’s statements would be convinced that the Jews are the source of evil, Israel is the axis of evil, and Iran is a peace-loving nation that supports the struggle of the Palestinians.

“Israel is conducting a cruel military campaign,” Guterres declared earlier regarding the situation in Lebanon. It’s a wonder he has not been discovered as a spokesperson for Hezbollah.

He did not bother to mention that Israel’s “aggression” is against a terrorist organization that has been firing missiles at it for a year and that the purpose of the “aggression” is to liberate a whole territory that was taken from its inhabitants to create a foundation for the murder of Israelis.
Defying Israel, UNIFIL chief says peacekeepers to ‘stay in all positions’ in Lebanon
United Nations peacekeepers will stay in all positions in Lebanon despite Israeli calls for them to move, given intensifying fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and five blue helmets suffering injuries, the UN peacekeeping chief says.

“The decision was made that UNIFIL would currently stay in all its positions in spite of the calls that were made by the Israel Defense Forces to vacate the positions that are in the vicinity of the Blue Line,” says UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix.

The IDF and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have made repeated calls in recent days to UNIFIL to evacuate from active combat zones, arguing that Hezbollah has been using its positions as human shields.


Looking behind BBC portrayal of Hizballah attacks on Israel
The BBC’s chart does not state that it includes “disrupted weapons use” and so we do not know whether or not it includes UAV interceptions by Israeli aircraft or Iron Dome interceptions of missiles. Neither does the BBC’s graph include any “civilians targeted” tagging as would, for example, have been applicable to the September 8th rocket attacks on Kibbutz Shamir or the September 9th drone attack on a residential building in Nahariya.

What we do see, however, is that ACLED states that attacks such as the thirty rockets fired at Kibbutz Shamir are “merged and recorded as a single ‘Battles’ event”. In other words, it does not matter whether Hizballah fired one rocket, thirty rockets or 160 rockets: the documentation is the same.

That perhaps goes some way towards explaining how the BBC’s sourcing and use of data from that organisation has repeatedly resulted in its audiences being presented with information that misleads them on issue of the actual the number of attacks on Israelis perpetrated by the Hizballah terrorist organisation.


IDF soldier slain battling Hamas terrorists in Gaza’s south
Israel Defense Forces Sgt. Koren Bitan was killed while fighting Hamas terrorists in the southern Gaza Strip, the army said on Monday night.

Bitan, 19, from Rosh HaAyin, east of Tel Aviv, served in Battalion 450, part of the Bislamach Brigade, the military body responsible for the training of all Infantry Corps squad commanders and platoon sergeants.

His family was notified of his death, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.

On Monday morning, the military announced that the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorist organization killed four IDF troops in a drone strike on a Golani Brigade training base near Binyamina on Sunday night.

The IDF identified them as Sgt. Omri Tamari, 19, from Mazkeret Batya; Sgt. Yosef Hieb, 19, from Tuba-Zangariyye; Sgt. Yoav Agmon, 19, from Binyamina-Giv’at Ada; and Sgt. Alon Amitay, 19, from Ramot Naftali.

On Friday, an IDF soldier was killed in southern Gaza. Staff Sgt. Ittai Fogel, 22, served as a tank commander in the 46th Armored Battalion of the IDF’s 401st “Iron Tracks” Brigade. He was from Yakir in Samaria.

On Thursday, three Israeli reservists were killed and two others seriously wounded when their vehicle hit an explosive device in the Jabalia area of the northern Gaza Strip.

The slain men were named as Master Sgt. (res.) Ori Moshe Borenstein, 32, from Moreshet; Master Sgt. (res.) Tzvi Matityahu Marantz, 32, from Bnei Adam; and Maj. (res.) Netanel Hershkovitz, 37, from Jerusalem. All three were part of the 5460th support unit of the IDF’s 460th Brigade.

The total death toll among Israeli soldiers since the start of the Gaza ground campaign on Oct. 27, 2023, stands at 353, and at 740 on all fronts since the beginning of the latest conflict on Oct. 7.


Seth Frantzman: Hezbollah drone attack on IDF base marks major escalation in precision strike capability
Drone production has progressed such that now, Iranian proxies all use similar drones, which have a long range and can fly complex routes to their destination. The Houthis and Iraqi militia drone attacks have become more common recently. In addition, Hezbollah has shown it can use these drones in precision strikes, illustrating that it can gather information or intelligence before initiating the attack itself.

This marks a major escalation point. In the past, Hezbollah had sent unguided rockets to rain down on Israel, but these are not very precise. Several years ago, reports said Hezbollah acquired precision-guided munitions, or PGMs, which are much more threatening because they can be used for precise attacks on strategic sites.

Hezbollah is now showcasing its drones’ capabilities. The drone threat is growing globally, and Hezbollah is helping demonstrate what drones can do.

However, the organization is not a pioneer in deadly drone attacks. Iranian drones used by the Houthis terrorized Saudi Arabia in the past and are being used by Russia to attack Ukraine in its ongoing invasive war there. Hezbollah, though, is exhibiting what drones are capable of doing. A war cannot be won aided by drones alone, but these can carry out deep and precise strikes.

Hezbollah has conducted several hundred drone attacks. Iran is likely taking notes and sharing the information with Hezbollah or discussing possible targets. The fact that an Iraqi drone killed two IDF soldiers and wounded others in the Golan recently may illustrate that Iran coordinated with Hezbollah, Iraqi militias, and Yemen to divide Israel into sectors – so that each proxy attacks certain areas. The Iraqis have targeted Eilat, as have the Houthis.

A recent report at Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar indicated that the Houthis are boasting they will try to target Israel’s Sa’ar ships near Eilat. Iran is watching this closely and is pleased to see how its proxies are spreading the drone threat throughout Israel.
Hezbollah drone strike on IDF training base kills four
The Hezbollah terror organization killed four Israeli soldiers in a drone strike on a Golani Brigade training base near Binyamina on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces said early on Monday morning. The IDF named the fatalities as:

Sgt. Omri Tamari, 19, from Mazkeret Batya.

Sgt. Yosef Hieb, 19, from Tuba-Zangariyye.

Sgt. Yoav Agmon, 19, from Binyamina-Giv’at Ada.

Sgt. Alon Amitay, 19, from Ramot Naftali.

“The IDF shares in the grief of the bereaved families and will continue to accompany them,” the Israeli military said. “We ask to refrain from spreading rumors and the names of wounded individuals and to respect the families.”

The IDF added in Hebrew that seven soldiers were seriously wounded in the attack. Some 50 others were moderately or lightly hurt.

Hezbollah took responsibility for the assault, claiming in a statement that it had “launched a squadron of attack drones at an IDF training camp for the Golani Brigade in Binyamina, south of Haifa.”

According to Channel 12, two drones approached Israeli territory from the sea. While one was shot down, the second was not intercepted, apparently due to its low altitude. No air-raid sirens were activated prior to the attack.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi arrived at the Golani Brigade training base on Sunday night after the attack, conducting an initial briefing with commanders.

“We are at war, and an attack on a training base on the home front is difficult and the results are painful. You operated well to treat and evacuate the wounded and injured. Embrace the bereaved families, accompany the wounded and strengthen the commanders and soldiers,” Halevi said.

“We continue to fight and train for what lies ahead. The Golani Brigade has recorded many achievements in the war and dealt resolutely with difficult situations—continue on the path of this legacy,” he continued.
'I heard a massive boom, then something burst through the ceiling of the dining hall'
Dozens were injured, including four soldiers killed, in a Hezbollah drone attack on a Golani Brigade training base near Binyamina on Sunday. The drone, a Sayyad 107, struck the base's dining hall, where the brigade's recruits were eating dinner. Eyewitness accounts from the scene and hospitals describe the aftermath as harrowing.

Images from the base show a blood-stained floor where the drone exploded. One soldier who witnessed the blast said, "I had just finished eating and was heading to the corridor to return my tray when I heard a massive boom. The metal door bent from the impact. We didn't understand what happened, then something burst through the ceiling of the dining hall. We heard nothing beforehand—just the explosion. There was no alarm. We ran to the shelter, and that's when I saw soldiers needed tourniquets. Many were bleeding heavily. We helped them reach the shelter and waited there."

Parents of a soldier evacuated to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera, where more than half of the 58 wounded soldiers were taken, recounted their panic. "A friend called and told us our son had been hit in the head and was bleeding. He managed to call his sister, said he was hurt but okay," said the mother. "We rushed here. We just want to see him and hold him. It's hard to handle this pressure, we can't even breathe."

The father of another wounded soldier said, "He has two shrapnel injuries, one in his head and one in his arm, but he's okay and fully conscious. He said they suddenly heard a boom, but there was no alarm."

Magen David Adom paramedic Rafi Sheva described the scene: "Dozens of MDA teams arrived. We declared a mass-casualty event and treated the wounded. It was a devastating scene—blast and shrapnel injuries everywhere. The injured were evacuated quickly by MDA teams and helicopters to hospitals."

A total of 115 units of blood were sent to Hillel Yaffe for the 36 soldiers admitted there, while another 40 units were delivered to Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv. Dr. Yehoram Klein, head of emergency surgery and trauma at Sheba, said three soldiers were airlifted to the hospital, including two transferred from Hillel Yaffe in serious condition. "All of them were wounded by shrapnel," he said.


Israeli strike kills Radwan missile-unit commander
The commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force’s anti-tank-missile unit was killed in an airstrike in the Nabatieh area in Southern Lebanon, the IDF announced on Monday afternoon.

Muhammad Kamel Naeem was responsible for planning and carrying out many terrorist attacks, including anti-tank missile attacks against Israeli civilians, the army said.

The latest IDF data published earlier this month shows that more than 800 Hezbollah terrorists have been killed, including 90 commanders, since the Iranian proxy joined the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, 2023.

(The official tally does not include last month’s deadly communication device explosions targeting Hezbollah operatives, which Jerusalem has not taken responsibility for.)


'Hitting us with sticks': Gazan says Hamas beats civilians attempting to evacuate
Hamas is beating Gazan civilians who attempt to evacuate to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian area from Jabalya, a Palestinian resident of Gaza told an IDF Unit 504 representative in an audio recording shared by the military on Monday afternoon.

Unit 504 is an IDF human intelligence unit.

“The problem is that when we follow the army’s instructions and try to go to Al-Mawasi, there are people who come out against us and start hitting us with sticks, telling us “go back, go back,” the Gazan civilian said to a military representative in the IDF recording.

The military reported that the development came as troops of the IDF’s 162nd Division operated against Hamas terrorists in the area. 'What should we do?'

“What should we do?” the resident asked. “We want to leave. We took our belongings and wanted to leave, and now they’re hitting us and telling us to “go home, go home,” what should we do?”

In response, the IDF representative asked whether it was Israeli troops or Hamas terrorists beating the civilians with sticks.

“Hamas, Hamas,” the Gazan responded, adding that the terrorists were continuing to send civilians back to the area from which they were attempting to evacuate.

“While the IDF makes every effort to move civilians away from the battlefield, Hamas continues to make every effort to keep civilians in the line of fire,” the IDF stated. Israeli forces have 'trapped' civilians in north Gaza, UN rights office says

Despite statements by Gazan civilians, the United Nations human rights office said on Monday it was appalled by more than a week of heavy Israeli strikes on northern Gaza where it said tens of thousands of civilians are trapped without food or supplies.

"In the shadow of the escalation of hostilities across the Middle East, the Israeli military appears to be cutting off North Gaza completely from the rest of the Gaza Strip and conducting hostilities with absolute disregard for the lives and security of Palestinian civilians," the rights office said.

It added in a statement that it had received reports that Israeli forces had erected sand mounds at a key juncture, effectively "sealing off North Gaza" and firing on those attempting to flee.


Oct. 7 memorial in Los Angeles draws 2,000
Hundreds of candles lit the stage of the Saban Theater in Los Angeles last week, as some 2,000 Jewish and pro-Israel Angelenos packed together for “LA Remembers 10/7,” an event marking the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks in southern Israel.

Karen Bass, the Los Angeles mayor, told the nearly sold-out crowd that “antisemitism has absolutely no place in L.A.”

Moran Atias, an Israeli actress, emceed the event, which featured more than 30 speakers, including music executive Scooter Braun, singer Raviv Kaner and actress Mayim Bialik. Footage from the Hamas attacks was also screened, and Eden Contez sang “Hurricane,” which Eden Golan performed earlier this year at the Eurovision Song Contest.

“There is no doubt about who we are as a nation,” Bialik told the audience. “Israel is the land of the Jewish people now and forever.”

Atias said from the podium that everyone remembers exactly where they were on Oct. 7. She had arrived in Israel three days before the assault, she said. Immediately after Oct. 7, she met with affected families in the area, she said.

Noah Farkas, a rabbi and president and CEO of the Jewish Federation Los Angeles, also addressed the crowd. A year prior, he spoke at a vigil on Oct. 10 at Stephen Wise Temple in Sherman Oaks, Calif.

“One year ago I welcomed you to a house of mourning,” he said. “Tonight, I welcome you to a different house. One year on, we remember with sadness and sorrow, but we also remember with strength.”


Geopolitical Stakes | Seth Frantzman on What Israel’s Fight Means for the Entire World
In this thought-provoking episode of Israel: State of a Nation, Eylon Levy is joined by Seth Frantzman, Middle East analyst and author, to discuss the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Frantzman provides deep insights into the October 7th massacre, likening it to historical events like Pearl Harbor and 9/11, and examines the broader geopolitical implications for Israel and the West. The conversation covers Hamas’s strategy, the international response, and the enabling role NGOs play in Hamas's cynical strategy. Frantzman’s new book on the October 7th war sheds light on the failures that led to the attack and the challenges ahead for Israel. A must-watch for anyone interested in understanding the stakes of this war and its global impact.

00:00 Coming Up
00:50 Opening monologue
03:14 Main Titles
03:29 Naming The Oct 7 War
08:18 Global significance of Oct 7
13:31 Hamas's war goals
24:20 How did Israel's defenses fail?
30:09 Can Hamas be contained?
32:59 Hamas's int'l collaborators
42:01 What Iran has learned about a post-US Mid-east.
45:57 IDF's war scorecard
52:25 The pitfalls of reconsruction
56:40 Will the next Oct 7 happen in Judea and Samaria?
59:56 The futility of appeasement
1:02:26 The costs of losing the war


The Rubin Report: The Brutal Reality of the Palestinian State Plan the Media Ignores | David Friedman
Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to former Ambassador to Israel David Friedman about the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah; Hezbollah's firing of thousands of missiles into Northern Israel; how Israel has severely damaged Hezbollah through military precision with its attack on Hezbollah's pager system; the strategic intelligence operations that targeted key Hezbollah leaders; the importance of deterrence in the Middle East, and how Israel's recent actions have shifted the power balance; Netanyahu's leadership, particularly during the Rafa operation, which rescued hostages and uncovered smuggling routes; Israel’s military failure to detect the full scope of Hamas' terror network; the impossibility of a two-state solution given past failures in Gaza and the West Bank; Friedman's alternative proposal for one Jewish state with Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian territories; the challenges facing Western nations, particularly Europe, as they face internal threats and immigration issues; Israel's stronger identity and self-defense policies compared to Western countries; how radical Islam plays a long-term strategy to infiltrate and destabilize nations; Israel’s youth being more conservative and patriotic than previous generations; the ongoing real estate boom in Israel, even during conflict; and much more.


UKLFI: Natasha Hausdorff discusses latest developments in Lebanon with Julia Hartley-Brewer on Talk TV
Natasha Hausdorff discusses latest developments in the war commenced by Hizbollah against Israel in interview by Julia Hartley-Brewer, including the Hizbollah drone that got through Israeli defences, misinformation regarding Israeli military action, and the failures of UNIFIL.


“IDF Trying To Isolate Gaza And Conduct Full Clearance Of The Area” | Israel Hamas Conflict
On Saturday morning, the Israeli military's Arabic spokesman issued a warning urging residents of the northern Gaza 'D5' area to move south for their safety. The IDF explained that it is conducting operations against terrorist organisations with significant force and that the area is now a dangerous combat zone. Residents were advised to evacuate immediately via Salah al-Din Road to a designated humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi, located in the southern part of Gaza.

The IDF said the importance of moving was to protect civilians from the ongoing conflict, while Hamas has been telling people to stay in the north, insisting the south is equally unsafe. Despite the warnings, many residents remain in the area, even as airstrikes and artillery bombardments continue.

Alex Phillips speaks with Research Fellow for the Henry Jackson Society, Andrew Fox and political strategist, Peter Barnes.


‘Extraordinary’: Evidence emerges of Hezbollah tunnels in close vicinity of UN
Sky News host Sharri Markson says there is “extraordinary” new evidence on Hezbollah tunnels near the border with Israel.

Evidence has emerged of Hezbollah tunnels and infrastructure in the close vicinity of the United Nations.

The terrorists were building tunnels, storing weapons, and using them as a base to attack Israel.


The Israel Guys: Massive Hezbollah Attack Suicide Drone EVADES Detection & Kills Four Israelis
A massive drone attack from Hezbollah killed 4 Israeli soldiers and wounded some 60 more. An Israeli investigation is still underway to figure out how this drone managed to evade detection and penetrate deep into Israel.

The last couple of weeks have been crazy here in Israel, with many attacks happening while Israel celebrated its High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Meanwhile, the whole region is holding their breath waiting for Israel’s expected retaliation on Iran.


The Israel Guys: These Famous Places in Israel Could be Lost Forever | Episode 3
In episode three of this four-part series, the five hosts at The Israel Guys take you to a spot that overlooks Joseph’s Tomb, deep in the heart of “Area A” inside the West Bank, and ironically, almost completely off-limits to Jews. You’ll see and hear about why Jews are in danger for their lives when trying to visit this site, and how, under the Oslo Accords, it should be accessible to all people.

Afterward, the team heads south to a famous location that overlooks the Dead Sea. Again, you’ll be shocked when you discover this place that everyone has heard of AND find out that it is inside Judea, part of the region the world wants to turn into a Palestinian state.

Multiple famous, biblical, archaeological and heritage sites, all inside Israel, are in danger of being lost forever under the potential creation of a Palestinian state. Sites that are extremely important to Jews and Christians could be lost forever.

While skepticism about the feasibility of the two-state solution is growing in Israel and amongst clear-headed thinkers around the world, we’ll let you watch today’s episode and decide what you think for yourself. Be sure to post your opinion in the comment section!


Travelingisrael.com: A Message to MUSLIMS from an ISRAELI. This is your Biggest Problem…



Labor MP Peter Khalil's electorate office sprayed with red paint and unknown substances
Labor MP Peter Khalil's electorate office has been vandalised with red paint and doused with an unknown substance in what he has called an "escalation" of previous incidents.

Photos provided to the ABC by Mr Khalil's office show the signs and exterior of the building in Melbourne sprayed with red paint, with "land back" and "glory to the martyrs" written along the walls.

Mr Khalil, who is the government's first special envoy for social cohesion, said that a hole was drilled in a door and "fire extinguishers and other kinds of propellants" were used to push "substances into the office".

A hazmat team was called to determine whether the substance was dangerous, and staff were evacuated. Red triangle painted on door.

An inverted red triangle was painted on a door to the office, which is a symbol that is associated with Hamas. (Supplied: Office of Peter Khalil)

"We're just not sure what's in there, the smell is horrific," Mr Khalil said on Monday.

"It smells like an abattoir and it's hard to breathe nearby it."

The photos also show an inverted triangle painted on a door, a symbol associated with Hamas, a terrorist organisation.

Victoria Police confirmed it was investigating criminal damage at an office in Brunswick and that it was understood the damage took place between 2am and 9am on Monday.

Officers were told that offenders had poured an unknown liquid through the door, the police spokesperson said.


Comedian Eshaan Akbar accused of 'mocking ' victims of October 7 attacks in Instagram post
A comedian has been accused of belittling the 1,200 victims of the October 7 attacks.

Eshaan Akbar wrote on social media that the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust was something 'involving hummus and sausages at a music festival'.

The former BBC Asian network presenter posted the message on Instagram to mark the first anniversary of the attack.

He said: 'A year ago today, something mad happened involving hummus and sausages at a music festival that resulted in the self-defence against children and their families resulting in over 45,000 deaths that we in the UK massively helped with!

'Aren't we good guys? Big up US!'

He shared the message ahead of his planned gig at the Top Secret comedy club in London on October 9.

The former Celebrity MasterChef contestant, has since been criticised for 'mocking' the victims of the attack.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: 'On the first anniversary of 7th October 2023 – the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust – Eshaan Akbar chose to mock the victims.

'To Mr Akbar, 7th October might be a laughing matter but to Jews and their allies, it is an ongoing trauma that will take a generation to recover from.

'He joins a growing list of comedians who prefer to use their platform to malign the world's only Jewish state than actually do their job and tell jokes. There's only one joke here, and it's Mr Akbar. We will be writing to his representation.'

MailOnline has contacted Mr Akbar for comment.

The controversy comes after comedian Paul Currie was banned from Soho Theatre after he 'hounded out' a Jewish audience member 'because he refused to applaud a Palestine flag' during his show.




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