Monday, April 07, 2025

04/07 Links Pt1: Addicted to the Drug of Hamas Propaganda; Oct. 7 victims sue PA mogul for using USAID-funded site to aid Hamas tunnels; David Lammy’s Israel hypocrisy

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: Addicted to the Drug of Hamas Propaganda
This was not a foreign-policy speech to some think tank; it was Khan’s message to the Muslims of Britain on a religious holiday. His words were chosen very carefully and the intent—to stoke the flames of sectarian resentment in a country already feeling their heat—was transparent.

It’s not as if Khan doesn’t know exactly how the Jews of Britain are feeling these days. Last year, one survey found that “50% of respondents had considered leaving Britain due to antisemitism,” the Jerusalem Post reported. “Younger participants were more likely to have contemplated leaving the country, with 67% of adults 18 to 24 years of age and 63% of adults 25-49 years of age agreeing with the sentiment.”

In a study of anti-Semitism in the UK in 2024, the Community Security Trust reported that the year saw the second-highest number of anti-Semitic incidents since the CST started keeping track 40 years ago.

“These hatreds are compounded by the stony silence with which Jewish concerns are met in far too many places of work, education and culture,” Mark Gardner, CST’s chief executive, said at the time. “It leaves Jews feeling ever more isolated and worried for the future.”

He was not exaggerating, especially regarding the anti-Semitism at work. On Thursday, the Times of Israel reported that “Nearly two-thirds of Jewish employees in the UK have encountered antisemitism in the workplace.” The response to those incidents was concerning as well: respondents said they sometimes got some empty words of support, a hollow gesture or two, but nothing materially changed.

And why might that be? Perhaps, just perhaps, Britain has a problem in which its ruling party parrots literal Hamas propaganda.

And the Labourites put in a surprising amount of effort to do so, constantly searching for new and creative ways to mine the bottomless pit of anti-Israel incitement. Over the weekend, two British Labour parliamentarians showed up in Israel claiming to be on a parliamentary delegation. Israeli officials checked and the story was false—the two MPs were left-wing agitators not on an official delegation but on a mission to use their diplomatic cover to egg on the movement to boycott the Jewish state. They were refused entry—Israel has a policy of helping Israel-boycotters maintain their boycotts by putting them back on a plane.

The UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and its Foreign Minister David Lammy made petulant statements about the incident in support of their awful Labour colleagues.

Again, all of this is being done not for the purposes of advancing a diplomatic settlement but to search beneath the couch cushions for any Hamas propaganda they might have missed. Hamas propaganda is a drug to them, and their behavior is that of addicts who have yet to hit rock bottom but are working hard to get there.

As everyone knows, the first step toward recovery is admitting the problem. So, yes, call them Hamas propagandists. For everyone’s sake, don’t sugarcoat the problem.
Seth Mandel: There Are No Cease-Fires in Iran’s Global War on Jews
So it isn’t terribly shocking to read the opening of the Washington Post’s account of another apparent such attempt:
“In the fall, an officer from Iran’s Quds Force met with Agil Aslanov, a drug trafficker from Georgia, according to Western and Middle Eastern security officials.

“The officer handed Aslanov a photo of a prominent Jewish figure in Azerbaijan and detailed instructions on how to kill him, the officials said. Aslanov agreed to kill Rabbi Shneor Segal for a price tag of $200,000, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.”

The attack reportedly also targeted an education center. It was disrupted by state security agents, the Post reports, and Segal was unaware he was the prime target until the plot was broken up. The Post brings up a couple of other recent Iranian plots, arguing that there has been an increase in such attempted attacks since Oct. 7, 2023: “German prosecutors have accused Iran of using criminal proxies to attack synagogues and a school in 2023. In March 2024, police in Peru arrested an Iranian man alleged to be a Quds Force member and two local accomplices over a plot to attack an Israeli national living in the South American country.”

In the spring of 2023, Iran had been suspected in a similar attack on an Azerbaijani lawmaker critical of Tehran, Fazil Mustafa. Mustafa was shot but survived. In 2024, five men were convicted of the attack.

When it comes to the Jews, however, Iran appears not only to attack dissidents or public figures. And that is equally true of Iran and its proxies’ long war of eradication toward Israel. Oct. 7 was a pogrom, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. A document recovered by the IDF in Gaza, Israel’s defense minister revealed recently, shows Hamas requesting $500 million from Iran for the purpose of destroying Israel, and Iran responding that even through difficult economic times Tehran will fund Hamas’s war.

As has been proved over and over again, there is no such thing as a peacetime Hamas, and therefore there is no such thing as a peacetime Iranian regime. The war on the Jews continues unabated no matter what else is going on. And why would that be any different from every other expression of Jew-hatred? When the pro-Hamas marchers get their cease-fire, they still march—they just find a new excuse to rant about the Jewish state.

All this talk of “permanent cease-fires” misses an important caveat: Cease-fires only apply to some.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Qatar's Muslim 'Scholars' Call For Death And Destruction
The last thing the Palestinians need are more calls from Qatar-based extremist for terrorism and jihad. If these Muslim "scholars" really want to help their Palestinian brothers, they should be calling on Hamas to release all the Israeli hostages they kidnapped, then to disarm, and then to stop pursuing the disastrous path of terrorism and jihad.

The "scholars" leading the IUMS live safely in Qatar, not in the Gaza Strip, and they are therefore not directly affected by the war that Hamas launched.

That such a call by an influential Islamic group comes from an organization based in Doha illustrates why Qatar cannot be trusted as an honest mediator in the Hamas-Israel war....

Since then, Qatar's royal family -- who amusingly seem to imagine that they are doing the US a favor by hosting the largest US Air Force base in the Middle East -- have smoothly persuaded the Americans and other Westerners that they are neutral, trustworthy mediators in the Hamas-Israel war. In reality, they are doing their utmost to protect their long-term client, Hamas, and keep it in power, just as they protected their other client, the Taliban, in Afghanistan to make sure it remained in power. If the US were to transfer its air base to a real ally, such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar would probably not survive a week.

It is time for the US to understand that Qatar continues to serve as a base and platform for jihad and Islamist terrorism. Qatar is not an ally in the war on terrorism. Qatar is the predominant sponsor and leading voice that promotes Islamist terrorism. Qatar is also, perilously, the towering donor to universities in America.

To American voters, it must look as if Qatar's sham-negotiations to keep Hamas in power are being conducted by US President Donald J. Trump's envoys primarily with an eye to avoid disrupting any future real estate deals with the emirate, rather than actually to stop the Hamas-Israel war and free the hostages.

At the very least, the US might threaten to withdraw its military assets from Qatar's Al-Udeid Air Base, just to put the most minimal pressure on the Doha to stop supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and other questionable Islamist organizations. The US might also designate the Muslim Brotherhood and IUMS as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.


Oct. 7 victims sue mogul for using USAID-funded site to aid Hamas tunnels
Palestinian-American billionaire Bashar Masri has been accused of using United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and international-funded Gazan infrastructure projects to facilitate Hamas tunnel systems, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday on behalf of American October 7 massacre victims.

The lawsuit – filed by law firms Osen LLC, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP, and Motley Rice LLC – alleged that following the 2021 conflict, Masri had rebuilt the Gaza Industrial Estate (GIE), which had been established in 1997 with support from USAID, turning it into a hub of Hamas operation.

While GIE housed legitimate businesses, the lawsuit alleged that it also hosted a terrorist tunnel network, including a passage under the border to allow Hamas to attack Israelis.

The lawsuit noted that PADICO Board of Directors chair Masri presided over the 2022 signing of the GIE rebuilding project alongside alleged Hamas manufacturing division commander and economy minister Abd al-Fattah al-Zari’i.

Zari’i was killed in an IDF airstrike in August for his logistical role in facilitating terrorist operations and seizing control of humanitarian aid.

Osen LLC managing partner Gary Osen said in the press release, “Any assessment of the factors that enabled Hamas to carry out these unprecedented attacks is woefully incomplete without considering the terror tunnel network’s central role.”

Masri is also alleged by the suit to have worked with Hamas to supply tunnel infrastructure with electricity from solar power and green energy infrastructure that were backed by the US, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

Evidence of money raised to support Hamas
Plaintiff and former Israeli science and technology minister Izhar Shay, who lost his son in the October 7 attacks, said that the lawsuit presented evidence that prominent Palestinian investors raised money from the World Bank, the UN, and the EU to build projects but coordinated with Hamas to develop subterranean infrastructure.

“We can’t go back to a pre-October 7 mindset where people pretend that it is possible to support economic development in a Gaza controlled by Hamas without also supporting its terrorist infrastructure,” Shay said in a statement.

Shay mentioned two luxury hotels held by PADICO that the suit also alleged were involved in facilitating Hamas tunnel and rocket operations. The complaint also noted that the hotels served as venues for key Hamas events.
New lawsuit alleges Palestinian American businessman supported Hamas in Oct. 7 attacks
A lawsuit filed on behalf of families of victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks accuses a leading Palestinian American developer with ties to the Trump administration of actively supporting the terror group as it orchestrated its deadly invasion of Israel.

The complaint, filed in Washington federal district court on Monday, alleges that Bashar Masri, a well-known businessman, owns several properties in Gaza that Hamas “used to construct and conceal” its tunnel network and “store and launch its rockets into Israel.” The suit also alleges that the properties helped “provide cover for Hamas’ true violent aims” in the lead-up to the attacks that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and claimed several hundred hostages.

Among the plaintiffs are the family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the Israeli-American hostage murdered by Hamas in Gaza; Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S.; and Eyal Waldman, an Israeli philanthropist and former business partner of Masri whose daughter was killed at the Nova music festival during the Oct. 7 attacks.

While the lawsuit does not claim that Masri had advance knowledge of the Hamas-led attacks, it asserts that he and his companies, which are also listed as defendants, knowingly played a direct role in aiding and abetting the U.S.-designated terrorist group as it planned its massacre in southern Israel.

The Masri-owned properties “developed with Hamas were not only part of the infrastructure Hamas used in connection with the Oct. 7 attack itself,” the lawsuit states. “Their development deliberately advanced Hamas’ false narrative that it was interested primarily in the economic development of Gaza and a grudging coexistence with Israel.”

The three properties referenced in the lawsuit as “crucial elements in Hamas’ attack plan” include two luxury hotels in Gaza that were allegedly used to host Hamas leaders and connected to the group’s underground infrastructure. The other property, an industrial park bordering a kibbutz targeted on Oct. 7, concealed “an elaborate subterranean attack tunnel” and “siphoned off electricity” from a “World Bank-funded solar project” to power the operations below the site, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also notes that the park, called the Gaza Industrial Estate, received funding from the United States Agency for International Development, which the Trump administration has effectively shuttered in recent months.

Masri denied the claims in a statement his office shared with Jewish Insider on Monday. “Bashar Masri is a successful and respected Palestinian American entrepreneur and business leader,” the statement said. “He was shocked to learn through the media that a baseless complaint was filed today referring to false allegations against him and certain businesses he is associated with.

“Neither he nor those entities have ever engaged in unlawful activity or provided support for violence and militancy,” the statement continued. “Bashar Masri has been involved in development and humanitarian work for the past decades. His continued efforts to promote regional peace and stability have been widely recognized by the United States and all concerned parties in the region. He unequivocally opposes violence of any kind. He will seek the dismissal of these false allegations in court.”


Jonathan Tobin: What creates a Palestinian terrorist and his foreign supporters?
What motivates terrorists?
Preventing the Palestinians from repeating those bestial crimes won’t make the conflict worse because after Oct. 7, how could it be?

The Hamas operatives and ordinary Palestinians who carried out those murders, rapes and kidnappings were already convinced that Israel was evil and that all Jews in it, including dovish residents of the border area who were dedicated to helping their Arab neighbors, deserved to die.

The problem is not Israel’s reaction to the war being waged against its existence. It’s the belief that this conflict—and any act of “resistance” against the Jews undertaken as part of it, including unspeakable barbarism—is justified. That belief is what set in motion the events that have harmed that 12-year-old boy. It has also inspired so many in the United States to seize on such incidents and every Palestinian death in Gaza to vocally support Hamas and echo their demands for Israel’s destruction.

Netanyahu and most Israelis have long since stopped paying attention to biased media coverage of the war being waged on them. That is understandable since they have more pressing concerns than answering the likes of Kristof. His moral preening about Israel and his commentary about the conflict, as if nothing the Palestinians believe or have ever done matters, can rightly be dismissed as ignorance masquerading as expertise.

An attack on Trump’s policies
This latest surge in prejudicial coverage of the post-Oct. 7 war is key because it provides ammunition for those on the American left who conquered academia and are on the verge of doing the same to the Democratic Party that hopes to return to power in 2028.

The media assault on Israel may seem like a dull repetition of similarly biased coverage that has been a staple of liberal establishment commentary for the last four decades. But as the anti-Trump resistance ramps up efforts to thwart the president’s policies and eventually be in a position to go even further to the left than past Democratic administrations, Jerusalem cannot escape being drawn into this struggle. At this point, it is the pushback against Trump’s support for Israel and efforts to rid the education system of the toxic leftist myths that have fueled antisemitism that is at issue. That is what is motivating the latest calumnies, distortions and lies about what the Jewish state is doing to defend itself.

Just as Palestinian indoctrination of hatred against the Jews in their schools and media creates terrorists, it is the spread of critical race theory, intersectionality and settler-colonial teachings that turns young Americans into supporters of a terrorist group like Hamas. In this way, Kristof, the Times and the many other news outlets that engage in a similar campaign of misinformation are far more responsible for the continuation of the war and Palestinian suffering than the actions of Israelis seeking to stop Hamas terrorism.
A Return to Maximum Pressure: Comprehensively Countering the Iranian Regime's Malign Activities
In order to counter Iran's destabilizing activities, the window is open for the U.S. to work with like-minded partners to advance opportunities in a region no longer held back by Iran's nefarious influence. To press the advantage, Washington must be prepared to bring more to the table than pressure.

Military force and sanctions are critical elements of strategy but insufficient on their own. The U.S. must lean into diplomacy as well, testing the possibility of a negotiated settlement that can prevent Iran's nuclear program from delivering weapons while also supporting new leaders across the region that oppose Tehran's interest in rebuilding its "axis of resistance."

Regional developments since Oct. 7, 2023, have significantly reshaped the regional threat landscape. In the aftermath of Hamas's attack, Israel, with U.S. support, has systematically dismantled Iran's proxy network in Gaza, Lebanon, and elsewhere. In Syria, Tehran lost its one Middle East strategic partner with the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.

The combination of Israel's offensive strikes inside Iran and U.S.-led defensive action in the region has lowered the fear barrier in confronting Iranian aggression. Allies have demonstrated that Iran's complex conventional attacks and missile threats can be effectively countered. Tehran's military infrastructure is now exposed to future military action.

In addition, the Iranian regime is under pressure at home due to years of mismanagement, corruption, and sanctions. Recent economic indicators reveal significant damage that limits the regime's ability to fund both domestic priorities and malign foreign activities. Yet sanctions alone cannot stop Iran's nuclear program.

Today, Iran is perilously close to crossing the nuclear weapons threshold. Iran could have sufficient weapons-grade uranium for a weapon in just days and could produce a usable weapon in six months or less. The intelligence community has long assessed that Tehran's decision-making is the only thing precluding a breakout, not any technical inhibition.
Trump: Direct talks with Iran to start Saturday
High-level direct negotiations between the U.S. and Iran will begin on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced in an Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

Netanyahu, who has historically expressed skepticism about the possibility of reaching an effective nuclear deal with Iran, raised the topic, saying that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. If it can be done diplomatically as it was in Libya, that would be a good thing. But if it can’t, we have to ensure it has no nuclear weapons.”

In response, the president said: “We are having direct talks with Iran. It’ll go on Saturday.”

Iran, however, has yet to publicly agree to enter direct talks with the U.S.

”I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious,” Trump added, a reference to a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. “And the obvious is not something I want to be involved with or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with if they can avoid it.”

Trump said Iran’s nuclear program is “getting to be very dangerous territory.”

Asked the level of the delegation to the nuclear talks, Trump said “high level, very high level … almost the highest level.” He would not say where the talks will take place.

The president’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said he had no comment when asked by Jewish Insider if he would be involved in the negotiations on Saturday.

The president acknowledged that it’s “a possibility” that Iran is trying to buy time and does not plan to seriously negotiate.

“I think if the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it. Great danger,” he said. “Because they can’t have a nuclear weapon. You know, it’s not a complicated formula. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, that’s all there is.”

However, Trump stopped short of threatening to bomb Iran, as he did last week.
Netanyahu vows to Trump: ‘We’ll eliminate tariffs, trade barriers’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the White House on a rainy Monday afternoon to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House to seek an amicable resolution to a potential trade crisis between the two countries.

“We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States. We intend to do it very quickly. We think it’s the right thing to do. And we’re going to also eliminate trade barriers, a variety of trade barriers put up unnecessarily,” Netanyahu said at the Oval Office.

“I recognize the position of the United States that says we’re allowing other countries to put tariffs on us, but we don’t put tariffs on them,” the prime minister said.

Netanyahu said the agreement Israel and the United States will reach will be looked at as a model by other countries now seeking to negotiate new trade deals with the Trump administration.

“I appreciate very much what you said about the tariffs,” Trump told Netanyahu. “We’ve been ripped off and taken advantage of by many countries over the years, and can’t do it anymore.

“We can’t be the stupid people anymore,” he continued. “And it’s all because of the people that sat at the seat right here. They allowed things to happen to our country that they shouldn’t have allowed to happen on trade and other things.”


Hamas ‘must have no role’ in Gaza governance, says Macron in meeting with Sissi
French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that Hamas should play no part in governing Gaza while publicly backing the Egyptian-led Gaza reconstruction plan during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

The two spoke at a press conference ahead of a planned summit with Jordan’s King Abdullah II later that day, in light of Israel’s renewed offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

Macron threw his support behind the Gaza reconstruction plan unveiled by the Arab League in March, saluting Egypt’s “crucial work” and saying it “offers a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza.”

He added that the proposal should also “pave the way for new Palestinian governance in the enclave led by the Palestinian Authority” and stressed that Hamas “must have no role in this governance, and must no longer constitute a threat to Israel.”

Egypt, along with Qatar and the United States, has been a mediator between Israel and Hamas. The US has, meanwhile, called on Jordan and Egypt to accept Palestinian refugees from Gaza.


State Department criticizes UN Human Rights Council
The U.S. State Department censured the U.N. Human Rights Council for a series of anti-Israel actions taken last week.

The council passed its annual Israel-focused Agenda Item 7 resolution, along with a resolution calling for an Israeli arms embargo, and approved a three-year extension of the mandate of Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for Palestinian rights, who has a long history of antisemitic remarks.

The council “consistently demonstrates virulently antisemitic bias against Israel, targeting it unfairly and disproportionately in council proceedings, through the Commission of Inquiry, and by its appointment of Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese,” a State Department spokesperson told JNS.

Washington ceased participating in the council in February “in part because of its obsessive and unjust targeting of Israel,” the Foggy Bottom spokesperson said.

The anti-Israel arms embargo resolution passed with minimal opposition, with only Czechia, Germany, Ethiopia and North Macedonia among the 47-member council voting against it.

The resolution requires the council-sponsored Commission of Inquiry to “report on both the direct and indirect transfer or sale of arms, munitions, parts, components and dual-use items to Israel, the occupying power, including those that have been used during the Israeli military operation in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, and to analyze the legal consequences of these transfers.”

Given the potentially broad interpretation of dual-use items—those with military and civilian applications—states and officials around the world, including Americans, could be at risk of criminal prosecution for conducting arms transfers and a range of other business with Israel under the resolution.

The Commission of Inquiry has faced extensive criticism for its membership selection, including those with documented histories of Jew-hatred, and its reporting to date, which has almost exclusively criticized Israel.

The commission’s mandate is to explore all causes and developments in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Under reportedly heavy pressure from the United States on the Palestinian Authority, a provision to create a perpetual mechanism “to assist in the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for the most serious crimes under international law committed by all parties” in Israel and Palestinian-controlled territories was removed before final passage.

The mechanism would have provided resources to prepare “case files in order to facilitate” what the document calls “fair and independent criminal proceedings” in courts around the world.


UN Watch denounces Qatar inclusion in UN women’s commission
The NGO UN Watch criticized the recent announcement that Qatar was elected to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

“No joke: Qatar was just elected to the U.N. Women’s Rights Commission,” the organization wrote on X. “Under the regime’s misogynistic laws, Qatari women wishing to attend the next U.N. women’s rights summit will need to first seek permission from their male guardians. The inmates are running the asylum.”

“The Muslim Brotherhood is now on the U.N. Women Rights Commission,” wrote Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.

Despite its checkered history of women’s rights, Qatar participated in the 69th annual session of the Commission on the Status of Women, held at the U.N. headquarters in New York in March.

UN Watch also criticized the commission in March when it announced that its annual session would be chaired by Saudi Arabia “despite its abysmal record on women’s rights,” the organization stated.

“It’s surreal,” Neuer said. “Electing Saudi Arabia to head the world body for protecting women’s rights is like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank.”

“As chair, Saudi Arabia is now in a key position to influence the planning and decisions of the world’s top women’s rights body,” he continued. “Yet despite cosmetic reforms, Saudi Arabia continues to subject women to legal discrimination, where they are effectively enslaved under a male guardianship system that was enshrined into law three years ago, ironically on International Women’s Day.”

“One of the world’s most patriarchal and misogynistic regimes now chairs the Commission on the Status of Women,” Neuer said.


Inside Israel’s Elite Rescue Unit | IDF Soldier’s Story of Survival (Pt.1)
In this exclusive two-part episode of Israel: The State of a Nation, former Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy speaks with Guy M, an IDF reservist in Unit 669, Israel’s elite combat search-and-rescue unit.

This is Part 1 of our deep dive into the untold stories of October 7 and beyond.
🔹 What really happened on October 7? Firsthand testimony from an elite IDF rescuer
🔹 Inside Unit 669: The intense training and high-stakes operations of Israel’s pararescue commandos
🔹 The fight for survival: Rescuing wounded soldiers and civilians from Hamas attacks
🔹 The new frontline: How Unit 669 has been operating since the start of the war

Guy is the author of The Rescue: October 7 Through the Eyes of Israel’s Pararescue Commandos, offering an unparalleled glimpse into the IDF’s most secretive rescue unit.

[00:00] Coming up
[00:17] Monologue
[02:55] Welcome and guest intro
[07:50] The Rescue - Book
[10:19] Jumping back to Oct. 7th
[15:22] Toughest rescue of my life
[21:35] You never have the opportunity to train for the mission
[29:30] There were casualties - I was furious
[36:25] How to process the trauma of war
[41:00] Flow of information during the early days of the war
[51:19] Outro and understanding part. 2


SAS Legend's Emotional Reaction To Secret Hamas Oct 7th Footage | Chris Ryan
Chris Ryan is a former SAS corporal and the only man to escape death or capture during the Bravo Two Zero operation in the 1991 Gulf War. In this clip, Chris recalls the horrifying experience of viewing the October 7th footage.


'We won't transfer aid to Hamas': IDF denies Israel will resume Gaza aid
"Israel does not and will not transfer any aid to Hamas," the IDF confirmed in a Monday statement.

The IDF is acting "according to directives from the political echelon" with respect to humanitarian aid.

Israeli news outlet Ynet previously reported that Israel is expected to allow the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza within weeks, or sooner, after a five-week pause on sending in supplies.

According to the Ynet report, senior military officials and lawmakers were discussing the resumption of sending food, fuel, and medicine into Gaza to avoid international law violations.

The IDF will "continue to exert increasing pressure on Hamas to return our hostages and achieve all the objectives of the war, in accordance with international law," the Prime Minister's Office added.

During Israel's six-week ceasefire with the terrorist organization, Israel allowed up to 600 trucks of aid into Gaza per day, over 400 trucks more than was sent in during the fighting period.

Sending humanitarian aid into Gaza has been a contentious issue since the start of the war.

Hamas has been seen stealing supplies for themselves from aid trucks designated for the civilian population of Gaza.


Airstrike targets, injures Gaza photographer who entered Israel with terrorists on Oct. 7
A photographer who entered Israel with invading Hamas-led terrorists on October 7 was targeted in an airstrike on a tent near a hospital in southern Gaza, Israel said Monday, accusing the man of being a member of the terror group operating under journalistic cover.

Hassan Eslaiah was wounded in the strike outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to Alam24, the Palestinian news agency he heads. Another journalist, Palestine Today reporter Helmy al-Faqawi, was killed in the strike, according to the hospital, and at least five others were reported injured.

According to the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security service, Eslaiah was a member of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade and was operating “under the guise of a journalist and owner of a press company.”

Eslaiah, whose freelance photography was distributed around the world for the Associated Press, entered Israel during the October 7, 2023, massacre, photographing Gazans, some of them armed, as they stormed Kibbutz Nir Oz, where a quarter of the population was slaughtered or kidnapped, including the elderly and children as young as nine months old.

He also took a picture of Gazans atop a burning tank next to the destroyed Gaza border fence. A video from the scene posted to social media but since deleted showed him next to the tank, though no press credentials could be seen on him.

“During the massacre, he documented and uploaded footage of looting, arson, and murder to social media,” the IDF said in a statement announcing the strike Monday. Palestinian terrorists are seen at an entrance to Kibbutz Nir Oz, during the Hamas-led onslaught on October 7, 2023. (AP/Hassan Eslaiah)

Both the AP and CNN said in November 2023 that they had severed their relationship with Eslaiah after a pro-Israel watchdog raised questions about their work with the photographer and other journalists who entered Israel during the massacre.

His pictures from that day were removed from the Associated Press’s distribution feed, though others remain.


‘Not the first time Hamas has abused ambulances’
As the IDF continued its investigation into a March 23 incident in southern Gaza in which troops opened fire on a convoy of ambulances and a fire truck, an Israeli military official outlined a detailed timeline suggesting that the forces had engaged what they believed were Hamas terrorists following an earlier encounter with terror operatives in the same location.

According to the official, speaking on April 5 and stressing that the incident was still under active investigation, IDF reservists from the 14th Armored Brigade and members of the Golani Brigade were operating in the Tel Sultan area, an area described as having “a lot of incidents of terror activity.”

The official said IDF forces had positioned themselves around 4 a.m. for an ambush on a road on which a Hamas vehicle subsequently passed by, opened fire and killed two Hamas members, taking a third for interrogation. “In the interrogation, he also admits that he was Hamas,” the official said.

The troops remained in the area for two more hours, during which time “cars going by, coordinated cars, including ambulances” were observed. Then, at around 6 a.m., the unit received intelligence from IDF aerial surveillance warning of “a convoy moving in the dark in a suspicious way,” he said.

The Israeli official said that the IDF personnel reported that individuals got out of the cars and began moving towards them and that the military personnel felt “like this is another incident… like what happened at 4:00 a.m. and they opened fire against those people… from afar.”

He dismissed claims of killings from up close, secondary shootings and that those shot were handcuffed, stressing that the shots were fired from a distance. The official also stated that after the forces approached the scene, they “identify part of them as terrorists, alongside with intelligence and evidence on the ground.” He added, pointedly, “In their eyes, they had an encounter with terrorists.”
Israel says ‘six Hamas terrorists’ among 15 killed in Gaza medics incident
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer says “six Hamas terrorists” were among 15 paramedics in Palestine Red Crescent Society vehicles shot dead by the IDF in the Gaza.

Asked about the incident, which occured in the southern Gaza Strip on 23 March, he added: “What were Hamas terrorists doing in ambulances?”

Speaking at a press conference on Monday he backed claims that Israeli forces had opened fire after the vehicles carrying the medics moved “suspiciously” towards them.

“The incident was reported in real time to US officials, ” added Mencer, who said the IDF is “conducting an investigation into the circumstances of the incident that took place two weeks ago.”

Asked later what proof Israel had that six Hamas terrorists had been among those killed, having initially stated eight were from the group, Mercer declined to comment.

But he said Hamas had a history of “abusing emergency services” and that was “the real essence of this issue.”

“The Hamas terror organisation systematically violates international law,” he added, by taking over schools, hospitals and mosques.


Part 8 can't be embedded and it's the most important one with the full 5 minutes of gunfire.
You will hear roughly 5 minutes of gunfire on and off, as well as the voice of the paramedic recording it and sporadically the voices of a few soldiers and other “people” involved in the shootout.



IDF forces kill Palestinian American rock-thrower during Samaria counterterror op
One Palestinian was killed and two wounded during Israel Defense Forces counter-terror operations near Turmus Ayya in Samaria on Sunday, according to the Israeli military.

The fatality was identified by the mayor of Turmus Ayya as U.S. citizen Omar Mohammad Rabea, 14. Mayor Adeeb Lafi claimed the teenager was shot dead by an “Israeli settler.”

The vast majority of the southern Samaria village’s residents hold U.S. citizenship.

According to the IDF, troops opened fire on several individuals who were hurling stones at vehicles on Samaria’s Route 60 highway.

“During counter-terror activity in the area of Turmus Ayya, IDF soldiers identified three terrorists who hurled rocks toward the highway, thus endangering civilians driving,” according to an IDF statement.

The soldiers opened fire, killing one of the terrorists and wounding two, the statement continued. The IDF published video footage of the incident.

The Palestinian Authority condemned Rabea’s death as an “extra-judicial killing” by Israeli forces during a raid in the village.

The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem had not responded to a request for comment by time of publication.

In January 2024, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, a Palestinian-American teen, was reportedly killed by the IDF while hurling rocks at drivers on the same highway, near Al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya, a 10-minute drive south of Turmus Ayya.

The Biden administration expressed its “deepest condolences” over his death and provided the family with “all appropriate consular services.”

Since the 1980s, at least 16 people have been killed as a result of car crashes caused by Palestinian rock-throwers, including 11-year-old Chava Wechsberg, five-month-old Yehuda Shoham, Asher Palmer and his 1-year-old son—all four dual Israeli-American citizens.


Police detain nine illegal Palestinians after chase of suspected terrorist
The Israel Police stopped a vehicle with nine Palestinians at the Kesem Interchange, near the central city of Rosh Ha’ayin, following a tip that an armed terrorist was making his way to the center of the country.

“The police have just stopped a suspicious vehicle on Route 6 near the Kesem Interchange, carrying nine illegal passengers who have been detained for questioning,” the Israel Police said in a statement.

“A chase was conducted due to a security-related suspicion, following a vehicle traveling from Jerusalem toward central Israel,” it stated. “All of its occupants have been arrested and will be transferred to investigation by the relevant security authorities, based on findings at the scene.”

Police sappers were said to be conducting searches of the suspect vehicle to rule out the presence of possible weapons or explosives.

According to Israel’s Channel 12 News broadcaster, security forces as part of the chase also set up roadblocks on Route 1, the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, near the country’s Ben-Gurion International Airport.

The police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) deployed a “Tequila” rapid intervention team after the Palestinian infiltrators crossed the Jewish state’s pre-1967 lines from Samaria, the Hebrew outlet said.

Forces reportedly arrested the nine suspects with drawn weapons.


Hezbollah rocket commander killed in south Lebanon drone strike, IDF says
An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed a Hezbollah commander responsible for several rocket attacks on northern Israel, the military said Monday.

The strike was the latest Israel Defense Forces raid on figures alleged by Jerusalem to be operatives or commanders in the Iran-backed terror group, as both Israel and Hezbollah accuse each other of violating a fragile truce in place since last year.

Lebanon’s health ministry confirmed that one person was killed in an Israeli strike on the town of Taybeh, which sits some 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the border.

The IDF said it targeted Muhammad Adnan Mansour in a drone strike, publishing footage from the air of a large explosion at the entrance to what appeared to be a two-story industrial building.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency said the strike hit “in front of a motorcycle repair shop” in the town, in the Marjayoun district.

According to Israel, Mansour headed Hezbollah’s rocket unit in the Taybeh area.

“During the war, Muhammad directed and carried out numerous projectile attacks toward the Upper Galilee area,” the IDF said.


Gottheimer asks DOJ to investigate group, which hosted Tlaib, for terror support
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) asked the Department of Justice on Sunday to investigate a New Jersey-based Palestinian group for potentially violating U.S. law banning material support for terrorism for hosting an alleged affiliate of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine at a conference last week.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) was also among the speakers at the conference, hosted by the Palestinian American Community Center.

Gottheimer’s letter, which does not mention Tlaib’s name or involvement in the conference, focuses on PACC’s featuring of Wisam Rafeedie, outlining links between him and the PFLP and its officials, as well as his past comments defending Hamas and downplaying its atrocities and calling to end the State of Israel.

“Rafeedie has a long history of supporting terrorism and engaging in antisemitic rhetoric,” Gottheimer wrote. “Rafeedie’s continued association with PFLP is a matter of public record.”

The letter also accuses PACC of attempting to hide Rafeedie’s involvement in the event following public scrutiny, and raises concerns over PACC’s receiving of funds from American Muslims for Palestine, which is facing multiple investigations and court cases tied to allegations of support for terrorism.

Gottheimer’s letter argues that the group may have engaged in violations or conspiracy to commit violations of U.S. law barring material support for terrorist organizations.

Tlaib’s involvement in the conference has generated public scrutiny in recent days. She did not respond to a request for comment.
Mahmoud Khalil makes ‘preposterous’ accusation after ‘abduction’
New York Post contributor Douglas Murray joins 'America's Newsroom' to discuss President Donald Trump's crackdown on antisemitism on college campuses as the administration halts $510 million in federal funding for Brown University.




Stephen Pollard: David Lammy’s Israel hypocrisy
I suppose we should name it the ‘Lammy Doctrine’, after the Titan of global diplomacy we are so privileged to have as our Foreign Secretary. So many and varied are David Lammy’s achievements that it is difficult to keep up, but this weekend he added yet another to the list.

Responding to the decision of the Israeli immigration authorities to bar two Labour MPs from entry, he appeared to announce a new doctrine: that British MPs are allowed to go where they want, say what they like and behave as they wish, and no country on earth has the right to bar them from entering. And yet Britain can nonetheless bar whoever we want from wherever we want, whenever we want.

He didn’t put it quite like that, of course; Mr Lammy is obviously far too sophisticated to put it so bluntly. But as British citizens we should surely all be grateful for his reinterpretation of ‘Civis Britannicus sum’, the maxim of his nineteenth century predecessor Lord Palmerston. And if that means trampling over Israeli immigration law, so be it.

To recap: at the weekend, two Labour MPs were barred by the Israeli authorities from entering the country. According to the Israeli embassy, they declined to petition the court to appeal the decision and so they were deported and flown home to the UK. Their names need not bother us. They are identikit Labour MPs of a familiar strand for whom Israel is an evil country. They are ten a penny.

Cue outrage from Mr Lammy: ‘It is unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities… I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British Parliamentarians, and we have been in contact with both MPs tonight to offer our support.’

(Let’s ignore the reference to the MPs having been on a ‘parliamentary delegation’, which implies some sort of official visit. In fact the MPs were on a trip organised by the Council for Arab-British Understanding, a lobby group which has spent decades attacking Israel.)

Along with the Foreign Secretary, a series of Labour MPs and Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, joined in with outraged criticism that Israelis should dare to refuse entry to two MPs.

In her usual gloriously self-important manner, Dame Emily Thornberry informed the Israelis that they had been ‘badly advised’. It must be a source of immense relief to the Israelis that the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee is now willing to offer them better advice as to how to conduct their affairs. It will be a real gamechanger for Israeli security.

There is only one problem with all this: the sheer galaxy-bending hypocrisy of it.
Starmer backs Lammy in fight with Badenoch over MPs’ removal from Israel
Sir Keir Starmer has backed David Lammy’s criticism of Israel’s decision to bar two Labour MPs from entering the country.

The foreign secretary had clashed with Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, who defended Israel’s decision to block backbenchers Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang from coming to Israel.

Badenoch told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday: “Countries should be able to control their borders. What I think is shocking is that we have MPs in Labour who other countries will not allow through.”

She added: “MPs do not have diplomatic immunity. I believe that the people who represent us in Parliament should be people who should be able to go anywhere in the world and people not be worried about what they’re going to do when they go into those countries.”
Jonathan Sacerdoti: Diplomatic row as two British Labour MPs Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed are refused entry into Israel
Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed were denied entry into Israel for allegedly intending to "document Israeli security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred."




IDF denies allegations of torture after BBC interviews freed Gazan prisoners
A BBC investigation published this week has detailed allegations from several Palestinian Gazans recently released from Israeli prisons, who claim they were subjected to abuse during their detention.

The individuals were arrested in Gaza in the months following the October 7 attacks and later freed as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The five former prisoners, interviewed by the BBC, said they were held under Israel's Unlawful Combatants Law, which allows for the indefinite detention of individuals deemed to pose a security threat without formal charges. According to the report, the men denied involvement in the October 7 massacre and said they had not been charged with crimes prior to their release.

The former prisoners described alleged mistreatment that included beatings, use of electric shocks, denial of medical care, threats, and sexual abuse. One man, Mohammad Abu Tawileh, claimed that he was burned with chemicals and beaten while blindfolded and restrained. He also claimed that he was later cuffed naked to a hospital bed during treatment in Israel.

Other testimonies cited in the report alleged prolonged exposure to cold, food and water deprivation, intimidation with dogs, and instances of medical negligence, according to the BBC. Some detainees claimed they witnessed the deaths of fellow prisoners in the prisons.

BBC sends list of allegations, IDF rejects claims
The BBC said it submitted a detailed list of allegations and identifying information to the IDF five days prior to publication. In response, the IDF issued a statement in response to the allegations.

"The IDF operates in accordance with Israeli law and international law, and protects the rights of detainees held in its detention facilities," The statement said. "Any harm to detainees, whether during arrest or during interrogation, violates the law and IDF orders, and therefore is strictly prohibited. The IDF takes any such actions, which contradict its values, very seriously, and thoroughly examines specific complaints related to detainee abuse. The IDF completely rejects accusations of systematic abuse of detainees."
UK Lawyers for Israel say ‘war crimes’ dossier on British IDF soldiers is ‘publicity stunt’
A team of British human rights lawyers are set to file a war crimes complaint against 10 British nationals who served with the IDF in Gaza, the Guardian revealed on Monday.

The report, prepared by a team of UK lawyers and researchers in the Hague, accuses the 10 Britons of intentionally killing civilians and aid workers by sniper fire and coordinating attacks on protected sites and on civilian areas, including hospitals.

Michael Mansfield KC, one of the lawyers who will submit the 240-page dossier to Scotland Yard’s war crimes unit, told the Guardian: “If one of our nationals is committing an offence, we ought to be doing something about it. Even if we can’t stop the government of foreign countries behaving badly, we can at least stop our nationals from behaving badly.

“British nationals are under a legal obligation not to collude with crimes committed in Palestine. No one is above the law,” Mansfield said.

The suspects, who remain unnamed for legal reasons, include dual-nationals as well as officers, the newspaper says.

Submitted on behalf of the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the British-based Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), the complaint covers alleged crimes committed in Gaza between October 2023 and May 2024, based on open-source evidence and witness testimony.

One witness at a medical facility allegedly saw corpses “scattered on the ground, especially in the middle of the hospital courtyard, where many dead bodies were buried in a mass grave”.

The witness added that a bulldozer “ran over a dead body in a horrific and heart-wrenching scene desecrating the dead”, and said they saw a bulldozer demolish part of the hospital, according to the Guardian report.

But Jonathan Turner of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) said the complaint “has all the trappings of a publicity stunt.”

"It is also noticeable that the alleged crimes differ from the main allegations made by the prosecutor of the international criminal court, that Israel had used starvation as a method of warfare,” said Turner. “We showed that those allegations were totally false and we expect that these allegations are false too.”

Anne Herzberg, human rights lawyer and legal adviser of NGO Monitor, a pro-Israel organisation that reports on anti-Israel bias in NGOs, wrote on X that the war crimes complaint is “part of the campaign that seeks to stoke international division between Israel and its allies, and intimidate Jews and Israelis living in the UK who have relatives in the IDF or who were required to serve”.


University of Sydney Jewish event rocked by pro-Palestinian rally
Israel’s United Nations Spokesperson Jonathan Harounoff says the latest antisemitic scenes at the University of Sydney campus are a “manifestation” of “inexplicable hatred” towards Jewish people.

“It’s truly disheartening and disturbing to see these scenes, what’s most shocking to me, is not what Hamas perpetrated on October 7th, Hamas’ genocidal intent is very clear, they’re very explicit about their hatred for Jews, for Israeli people, for anyone that supports a Jewish state,” Mr Harounoff said.

“What was most disturbing to many people across the world was what happened on October the eighth, October the ninth, October the tenth, and since then, 500-odd days since.

“I think what we’ve seen at the University of Sydney is the latest manifestation of this inexplicable hatred towards anyone who’s Jewish, anyone who comes from the state of Israel, even someone, an innocent person who survived the most horrific atrocity just for being Jewish.”




The Dave Smith Debate is Broken. Here's a Better Way In | Dave's Rogan Appearance
Dave Smith’s controversial comments about Darryl Cooper, WWII, Zionism and the war in Gaza on Joe Rogan’s podcast are blowing up all over X. Critics are piling on—but most of them are missing the point.

In this episode, I offer a different critique—one that doesn’t rely on outrage or lazy assumptions, but goes deeper into the ideas, the framework, and the impact of what Dave said.

💬 In this episode, I break down:
🔹 Why Dave Smith’s comments aren’t just wrong—they’re strategically misleading
🔹 What most critics are doing wrong when they call him out
🔹 How this fits into a broader trend of anti-Zionist rhetoric in media
🔹 A smarter, more effective way to respond

00:00 The clip none of Dave Smith's critics are sharing
9:27 What we're doing wrong on the pro-Israel side
15:48 How the woke right is so inconsistent on Israel
20:30 Does Dave Smith actually understand history?
22:57 Debate: Is Darryl Cooper a problem?
27:49 What's a better way to respond to Dave Smith and those like hum?
29:42 What does Joe Rogan really believe?
36:17 Worst case scenario for Israel
36:39 Sam Harris and Gad Saad going at each other on X
39:12 Why is there no competition to the Joe Rogan Experience?
43:49 Happy Passover!






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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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