Saturday, June 07, 2025

06/07 Links: Why Britain must not recognise Palestine; Body Thai national recovered in Gaza by IDF; Hamas threats force halt in Gaza food aid; Mohammed Sinwar's body found under Hospital

From Ian:

Jake Wallis Simons: Why Britain must not recognise Palestine
War is hell. Israel – which neither wanted it nor started it – evacuates civilians before attacks and provides them with aid. Yet in Parliament last week, amid nods from MPs who have never known the inside of a bomb shelter, the Prime Minister branded Israel “appalling”.

As ever, Starmer’s petty politicking blinds him to his own moral bankruptcy. Unilaterally recognising a state of Palestine is a contemptuous proposal. Dismissing Israel’s existential security concerns is insult enough, but providing a reward for October 7 creates awful incentives for the future.

Worse still, perhaps, is the narrative it would create. Britain’s official policy would be to blame Israel for the lack of a Palestinian state, when the historical truth is the opposite.

The Palestinians were first offered self-determination in 1947, but rejected it in favour of attempted genocide. They were offered it again during the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, but derailed it with a spate of suicide bombs that claimed the lives of many Israelis.

In 2000, at Camp David, they were offered 96 per cent of the West Bank but turned it down. In 2008, prime minister Ehud Olmert offered 94 per cent of the territory with land swaps for the remainder, East Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital, and the Old City turned over to international control. Again, Abbas rejected it.

Why? Because the true problem is the very existence of a Jewish country, which is seen as a rebuke by some to Arab honour. The Palestinians don’t want a state alongside Israel. They want a state instead of it. This is what Britain would be supporting.
Two articles reveal how Trump Derangement and the Gaza war have twisted the Jewish left
The election of Donald Trump and Israel’s actions since a ceasefire that Trump helped initiate collapsed have brought about a new virulence in anti-Israeli activity that now has taken in many in the West until now supportive of the Jewish state.

Signs of this are all around us – the absurd threats by supposed allies UK, France and Canada; the willingness of many in the punderati, such as Piers Morgan, to agree that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza;, the leader of a leftist Israeli political party and a former IDF deputy chief of staff saying that Israel “kills babies as a hobby”; and the resulting – and increasing – violence against Israelis and Jews worldwide.

Nor have North American Jews been inoculated against the slanders and lies regularly hurled at Israel. Currently joining the “asaJew” longtime anti-Israel chorus are left-leaning Jews, hitherto supportive of Israel, but swayed by Hamas propaganda swallowed whole by Western media and politicians, and even more so by their deranged hatred of all things Trump, including his apparent support for Israel (despite this being less obvious since his recent trip to the Middle East).

One such individual is Eric Alterman, a very well credentialed academic and journalist. Alterman fancies his views on Israel to be balanced because he’s been attacked by pro-Palestinians as pro-Israeli, the same reason that allows BBC and other media to convince themselves they’re being objective, and for his stance against BDS. But in reality, since at least 2020, Alterman’s views have been trumpeted by the fiercely anti-Israel site Mondoweiss. For example, he has written articles stating, among other things, that:
Three democratic presidents – Clinton, Obama and Biden, worried about their second-term chances if they supported Palestine.
Israel’s conduct is responsible for antisemitism
Young Jews abandoning Judaism because Jewish institutions support Israel
Zionism is at odds with Liberalism.

Alterman’s disenchantment with Israel results from his disappointment with how Israelis vote: namely, for right-wing parties. In Alterman’s world, as in the worlds of so many other so-called liberals, being right-wing is anathema. Which brings us to the second and, I would say main, object of Alterman’s hatred: U.S. president Donald Trump.

In his recent article in the New Republic, “The Coming Jewish Civil War over Donald Trump,” Alterman’s view is that Jews are split over what’s more important: Trump’s crackdown on antisemitism (on campuses, for instance) and support for Israel vs. his supposed “dismantling” of institutions broadly supported by American Jews. In the course of describing this split, one would expect serious criticism of Trump, and one wouldn’t be disappointed. However, one might not expect searing criticism of Israel from his first paragraph onward.
David Christopher Kaufman: Shame on LGBT elite for ignoring lesbian Israeli hostage Emily Damari this Pride season
There have been no articles in leading American LGBT media brands such as The Advocate and Them. And no public commendations from major LGBT advocacy organizations — such as GLAAD, whose annual media awards last May devolved into an orgy of Israel bashing.

Meanwhile, feminists have also kept silent about Damari, despite her ordeal at the hands of, perhaps, the most misogynistic political entity besides the Taliban. Remember the crowds that Hamas gathered for the creepy release ceremonies that accompanied the hostages’ release in winter. Notice anything strange: There are almost no women — anywhere. Only men and machine guns. This is the misogynistic reality Emily Damari contended with for over a year.

Mostly, Damari’s story makes me proud: Proud to be a Zionist – proud to be a Jew. I’m proud to know that Israel is the only nation in the Middle East where gay Arabs and Muslims — and, yes, Jews, too — are protected by the state. So much so that queers from the West Bank seek and receive asylum after fleeing for their lives from Jenin or Ramallah. Sure, anti-Zionists will reduce Israel’s LGBT bona fides to mere pinkwashing or propaganda. And let them.

Meanwhile, I challenge anyone to find me an out “queer” in Gaza or the West Bank. Not gay Arabs and Muslims in the West, who pimp for Gaza without ever stepping foot in Gaza. But actual, identifiable Palestinian gays and lesbians advocating for their own destiny in their own nation. Back in 2022, 25 year-old Ahmed Abu Marhia tried to be out and proud in the West Bank after returning from the relative openness of Israel. His fate: He was beheaded in Hebron. Because the only out queer person in the Palestinian territories, recently, appears to have been Emily Damari.

Ultimately it’s Damari herself for whom I feel the most pride — hardly surprised when we learned she volunteered to remain in Gaza so that 65 year-old Keith Siegel could be released first (he finally returned home shortly after Damari). The emotions are strong when I think of Damari strutting her way back into Israel to mom Mandy and her partner, Orel a few months back. For those of us hip to such things, Damari (a lifelong soccer devotee) was immediately and unmistakably queer — her gait cocky and confident and even so slightly butch.

Even after months with Hamas, it was almost impossible to believe that Emily Damari was still Emily Damari: Out and proud from her first moment out of captivity. This is the bravery the #queersforpalestine madfolk never match — and a bravery I’ll display myself the next time I worry about holding another man’s hand on a New York City subway.


Dr. Phil Podcast: Families Who Survived the Unthinkable: Held Hostage
Dr. Phil sits down with hostages taken by Hamas – Aviva & Keith Siegel for a harrowing account of survival, captivity, and the fight to reclaim life after terror.      

On October 7th, 2023, Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel, kidnapping civilians taking them into Gaza. Among those captured were American Israeli Keith Siegel, his wife Aviva and Omri Miran whose peaceful morning turned into a living nightmare. In this gripping and emotional episode, Dr. Phil sits down with the survivors and Lishay Lavi Miran, the wife of Omri who is still in captivity for an unflinching look at what happened that day – the trauma that lingers and the fight to bring all the hostages home.


'He will not return alive': Hamas publishes new threat on hostage Matan Zangauker
Hamas military spokesperson Abu Obeida said that the IDF is besieging the area where Israeli hostage Matan Zanguaker is being held and that its operations are endangering his life, in an announcement on Telegram on Saturday.

"Urgent warning to those concerned... The occupation forces are besieging a place where the Zionist prisoner 'Matan Zangauker' is being held. We unequivocally affirm that the enemy will not be able to recover him alive. If this prisoner is killed during an attempt to free him, the occupation army will be responsible for his death, after we preserved his life for a year and eight months. He who warns is excused...," the statement read.

The IDF said there were no current operations attempting to rescue Matan.

Hamas's execution of hostages
The Gazan terror group previously murdered the "Beautiful Six" in response to IDF operations near where they were being held.The bodies of hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Ori Danino were recovered from a tunnel in Rafah.

"Netanyahu and the occupation army alone bear full responsibility for the deaths of the prisoners. They deliberately obstructed any prisoner exchange deal for their own narrow interests, and furthermore, intentionally killed dozens of prisoners through direct airstrikes," Obaida said at the time. "Let it be clear to everyone that, following the incident in Nuseirat, new instructions have been issued to the Mujahideen tasked with guarding the prisoners. These instructions outline how to handle the situation if the occupation army approaches the location where the prisoners are being held."

The Nuseirat incident refers to Operation Arnon, in which four hostages were rescued from the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, which led to the deaths of at least 100 people, according to IDF estimates, and nearly 300, according to Hamas estimates.

The rescued hostages were Noa Argamani, 26; Andrey Kozlov, 27; Almog Meir Jan, 21; and Shlomi Ziv, 40.


Israel kills terror chief responsible for Bibas family abduction, murder
The IDF and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) on Saturday killed a terrorist leader who was “directly involved” in the kidnapping of Shiri Bibas and her children, Kfir and Ariel, from Kibbutz Nir Oz and their subsequent murder in Gaza, the defense bodies announced in a joint statement.

Asaad Abu Sharia, slain in Gaza City, was the head of the Mujahideen Brigades (“Kataeb al-Mujahideen”).

He was “one of the ringleaders of the brutal massacre [the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack] and was also involved in the abduction of the late couple Gadi Haggai and Judy Lynn Weinstein, as well as in the kidnapping and murder of [Thai national] Nattapong Pinta, and another foreign national who is still being held [in Gaza],” the statement continued.

During the war in Gaza, Abu Sharia was responsible for initiating attacks against the State of Israel and IDF soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip, the military and Shin Bet said.

Another top terrorist from the Mujahideen Brigades was killed on Saturday in a separate operation, the statement added.

Mahmoud Kaheel invaded Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023, and he was involved in keeping the Bibas family in captivity, the military said.

“Terrorists from the Kataeb al-Mujahideen organization played a significant role in the brutal massacre on October 7. They participated in acts of kidnapping and murder, despite not being privy to Hamas’s operational plans. Instead, they acted as executors and opportunists of Hamas’s terror infrastructure within Israeli territory,” the statement concluded.

The Mujahideen Brigades, a Salafist group, collaborates closely with Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades (“Saraya Al-Quds”).


The Dispatch PodCast: The New Antisemitism
Steve Hayes hosted today’s roundtable, joined by Jonah Goldberg, Michael Warren, and Megan McArdle to discuss the disturbing attack against anti-Hamas protesters in Boulder, Colorado, and the horrific rise in antisemitic violence. Plus: Is the “woke right” a thing?

The Agenda:
—The recent slew of antisemitic attacks
—Violence within the pro-Palestinian movement
—The house is on fire and Rod Dreher is in the foyer
—Young people are entertaining taboos
—Jonah’s brush with antisemitism and the Trump movement in 2016
—Tucker Carlson as lightning rod for the woke right
—Youthful idiocy
—Mike’s trips to the liquor store near the office
Douglas Murray: ‘Anti-Semitism is an early-warning siren for a sickness in society’
Has the West failed the moral test of 7 October 2023? From the moment news emerged that Hamas terrorists were tearing through southern Israel, butchering, raping and kidnapping civilians, a sizeable proportion of Westerners, including among the elites, failed to understand what was at stake. Here was a Western liberal democracy under attack by an army of Islamist anti-Semites, hell-bent on the destruction of the Jewish State. Yet every attempt by Israel to defend itself has been cast as an act of unjustified aggression – or worse, an attempt at genocide. Instead of inspiring solidarity, the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust fuelled a wave of anti-Semitism across much of the West, with self-described progressives at the forefront. Jihadism marched under the banner of social justice.

Douglas Murray’s new book, On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel, Hamas and the Future of the West, looks at how we got here, the real meaning of 7 October and how we should respond. This week, he joined spiked’s Brendan O’Neill on his podcast, The Brendan O’Neill Show, to discuss all this and more. You can watch the whole thing here.




Taking Sides: Wikipedia Advances Anti-Israel Narratives
Wikipedia, the world’s go-to site for information that professes to take a neutral point of view, is coming under fire for alleged anti-Israel bias in the sources it favors and content it delivers to millions of readers.

The criticism is coming from several quarters, including a bipartisan group of 23 members of Congress who, in an April letter, expressed “deep concern regarding antisemitism” found in the online encyclopedia. The entries routinely highlight the work of anti-Zionist scholars and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), according to a review by RealClearInvestigations, while dismissing the views of Israel’s defenders. Amnesty International, which casts Israel as genocidal, is considered a reliable source for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while the Anti-Defamation League, which rejects that view, is not.

The controversy has emerged during a sharp rise in antisemitism around the world, including the recent murders of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., and the firebombing in Boulder of protesters demanding the release of hostages taken by Hamas. Critics argue that the online encyclopedia is fueling this hatred by publishing biased entries that are presented as objective statements of fact.

Wikipedia is produced by volunteer editors who are instructed to follow a set of rules as they summarize the work of authoritative sources, which can include those that appear to be biased. Its consensus model encourages editors to work out their differences collegially and reach a compromise that balances the different viewpoints of sources to ensure neutrality. But critics say that so many academics and NGOs hold left-leaning views that cast Israel as the oppressor and Palestinians as the oppressed that it is hard for editors to avoid publishing biased statements as neutral ones.

Consider Wiki’s entry for “Gaza genocide” – a title that, critics argue, takes sides. It begins with this statement: “According to a United Nations Special Committee, Amnesty International, and other experts and human rights organizations, Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people during its ongoing invasion and bombing of the Gaza Strip as part of the Gaza war.” The entry then lists several paragraphs of evidence, including large-scale deaths of Palestinians, the forced displacement of most of the population, and starvation.

Where’s the other side of the story to establish neutrality? Not until the seventh paragraph do readers learn that Hamas’ attack in Israel, killing 1,139 people, sparked the invasion of Gaza. But rather than calling Hamas a terrorist group – a classification used by the U.S., EU, U.K., Canada, and other democratic nations – whose avowed goal is the destruction of Israel, the entry describes the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas as a response to Israel’s historic treatment of Palestinians.
NY Assembly Dems accused of ‘veiled antisemitism’ after killing bipartisan bill to commemorate Oct. 7 attack on Israel
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie torpedoed a bipartisan bill that would have commemorated the horrific Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The Bronx pol went to extraordinary lengths Friday to ensure that the measure would not make it to the Assembly floor for a vote, stacking a committee with compliant Democratic allies who’d vote to scuttle it, sources said.

The bill, sponsored by Republican Assemblyman Lester Chang, would have enshrined Oct. 7 alongside other days of commemoration in the Empire State, such as “Rosa Parks Day” and “Susan B. Anthony Day.”

Sources suggested that Heastie, the most powerful Democrat in the Assembly, likely didn’t want a bill with a Republican as its primary sponsor reach the floor for a vote — even though a number of Dems co-sponsored it.

“It shouldn’t be controversial just because I’m a Republican,” said Chang (R-Brooklyn).

“It’s ugly. It’s destructive. It’s hurtful for both sides,” Chang said of Heastie’s actions, adding, “And it’s important that we remember 1,200 victims.”

The move to kill the Oct. 7 bill follows chaotic behind-the-scenes drama that unfolded this week when Heastie permitted putting up a resolution honoring Palestinian Americans onto the floor before yanking it at the last minute.

The lower chamber’s ways and means committee also killed a bill by Assemblyman Ari Brown (R-Nassau) that would’ve required New York schools to teach about Oct. 7, in addition to making it a day of commemoration like Chang’s measure.

Brown, who is Jewish, accused the Democrats of “veiled antisemitism.”

“Albany’s legislature is rotten with veiled antisemitism, and their sabotage of my bill, A06557, to honor October 7th victims and fight hate, is proof,” Brown said.

“If this were a bill for the Black or Hispanic community, it would’ve passed with praise and fanfare. This isn’t just obstruction; it’s a vile, calculated betrayal of Jews as a minority, letting hatred win with their cowardly tactics.”
Cuomo refuses to condemn Heastie for killing bipartisan bill commemorating Oct. 7 attack on Israel but says he’d support it
Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo refused to condemn state Assembly Speaker and longtime ally Carl Heastie for torpedoing a bipartisan bill that would have commemorated Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on the Jewish state.

Cuomo, the frontrunner heading into the June 24 NYC Democratic mayoral primary, told The Post Saturday he was unaware of the bill or that the Bronx pol went to extraordinary lengths to ensure it didn’t reach the Assembly floor for a vote.

“I don’t know how it happened, but I have no doubt that the Democrats in the Legislature would all honor the memory of Oct. 7 and stand in unity in honoring Oct. 7,” he insisted after leaving the Attneu Synagogue on the Upper East Side, where he addressed members of its congregation.

Although Cuomo wasn’t willing to attack Heastie, he quickly jabbed Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani — a socialist who has been polling second only to the former governor in the Democratic mayoral primary race.

“The Democratic Party is 100% in support of the Jewish community, and I’m sure would stand in solidarity in condemning Oct. 7,” he said. “Democratic socialists, Zohran Mamdani, that’s a different story.”
Government cancels Israeli speaker’s Australian visa
Israeli-American influencer Hillel Fuld has had his Australian visa cancelled by the Department of Home Affairs on grounds he may pose a risk to “the health, safety or good order” of Australians.

Fuld was scheduled to speak at Magen David Adom fundraising events in Sydney and Melbourne to support the organisation’s appeal to build a new station in Lehavim, southern Israel.

Emma Lipson, MDA Australia office manager in Melbourne, told The AJN that MDA Australia “totally rejected” the visa cancellation, noting Fuld “has spoken to large audiences across North America, Europe and Asia with no incident.”

The visa cancellation followed a social media campaign by pro-Palestinian activists who labelled Fuld “a well-known merchant of Zionist hate speech” and accused him of posting “racist, dehumanising rhetoric denying Israeli atrocities against Palestinians.”

The campaign called on supporters to contact Home Affairs and Minister Tony Burke to revoke Fuld’s visa under Section 116 of the Migration Act, which covers “risk to public order.”

One reason cited by the pro Palestine account was “denial of documented atrocities” including what the activists termed an aid site “massacre” – an incident subsequently shown to have been caused by Hamas.

“We have spoken with everybody possible to try and get the decision reversed, and we are just trusting the process and hoping that there is a positive outcome,” Lipson said.


Jewish owners sue France for $20 million in unpaid rent
The descendants of two Jewish brothers, Ezra and Khedouri Lawee, are suing the French government whose embassy in Baghdad was originally their family home. Interviewed in the Globe and Mail, Philip Khazzam, grandson of Ezra, claims that France stopped paying rent on the building to the Lawee family at the behest of Saddam Hussein’s regime, and owes the Lawees more than $20 million. It appears that the embassy is paying the Iraqi Treasury instead. All Jewish property was nationalised by the Iraqi government and no compensation has ever been paid. (With thanks: Stan)

In the shaded garden of their Baghdad home, the Lawee family ate fresh dates straight off the palm trees. They fished in the Tigris River and strolled to the country club with tennis rackets under their arms. Brothers Ezra and Khedouri owned the General Motors concession for a section of the Middle East and the house they built together was suitably palatial, with columns and fountains and a swimming pool, a cook and a driver, and enough bedrooms to sleep 12.

The Lawees counted themselves, at the beginning of the 1940s, among Iraq’s roughly 150,000 Jews. They lived in one of the great centres of Jewish life, rivalling Krakow and Odesa and Vienna; a community with roots dating back 2,700 years to ancient Babylon, in a city where one in three residents shared their religion.

Then, in the fateful year of 1951, it virtually all disappeared. More than 100,000 Jews were airlifted out of the country amidst rising antisemitic repression in the once relatively tolerant Arab society. Most of the Lawees’ contemporaries ended up in Israel, like nearly one million more Middle Eastern Jews from Morocco to Iran whose flourishing worlds collapsed in a spasm of recrimination spawned by the creation of the Jewish state in 1948 and the corresponding displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

The Lawee brothers instead brought their families to another great Jewish city thousands of kilometres away: Montreal. They became proud Canadians in their new home and built a thriving real estate business. But they never forgot Baghdad and Beit Lawee, or Lawee House – the charmed, palm-shaded world that had been stolen from them.

Now, more than 70 years later, their grandchildren are seeking justice. Philip Khazzam, grandson of Ezra, is suing the government not of Iraq but of France, which started using the house as its embassy in the 1960s, and then in the 1970s, abruptly stopped paying the family rent at the behest of Saddam Hussein’s new regime. Mr. Khazzam and his lawyers reckon the French owe more than $20-million and counting, given that France continues to occupy the Lawee House and pay rent to the Iraqi Treasury.


Seth Frantzman: Will arming Gazan militias against Hamas harm Israel in the long run? - analysis
Reports have confirmed that Israel has been arming and apparently supporting or working with armed militias in Gaza. Some reports refer to this group as a “gang.” Others describe the leader of the group, Yasser Abu Shabab, as a member of a large clan in southern Gaza.

There may be more clans being activated or encouraged than just the one linked to Abu Shabab, which is not his real name but rather a nomme de guerre, meaning the full details about this group continue to be shrouded in some mystery.

It is therefore hard to know if these groups will become an effective anti-Hamas movement. If they are gangs that are better known for looting and other past crimes than for achieving much now, then they will likely not be embraced by the average person.

If the groups are made up of clans or even men with links to Bedouin tribes, then it’s possible that it will be hard for them to make inroads among other Gazans. It’s worth asking whether the new militias in Gaza may be effective and whether history tells us that arming militias is an effective tactic.

First, let’s look at what we know about Gaza. It’s worth noting that the Gaza Strip’s population is divided into different groups. There are people who came there as refugees in 1949, fleeing areas in the Negev that became part of Israel. These people likely make up more than half of the coastal enclave’s population.

Then there are the people in Gaza who trace their heritage to people who lived there for hundreds of years before 1948. Those people could be called the original Gazans. They are very different than those called “refugees,” who moved to camps such as Khan Younis, Rafah, Maghazai, Deir al-Balah, Jabaliya, Nuseirat, and Shati.

The camps became the backbone of the Palestinian political and armed movements. They also became a hotbed of Hamas activity in the 1980s and ‘90s and thus a hotbed of terrorist activity. The Gaza Gazans, who predate 1948, are less inclined toward Hamas.


Body of ‘hardworking, beloved’ Thai national recovered in Gaza by IDF
The remains of a Thai agriculture worker who was kidnapped by terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, were recovered in a special operation carried out in Rafah by the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the two defense bodies announced in a joint statement on Saturday.

Nattapong Pinta, 36, was abducted “with some of his friends” from Kibbutz Nir Oz, situated near the Gaza Strip border, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a separate statement.

It further confirmed that he was murdered shortly after the war broke by the Mujahideen Brigades (“Kataeb al-Mujahideen”), a Palestinian terrorist organization that was also responsible for the murder at Nir Oz of Judi Weinstein-Haggai and Gadi Haggai and then carrying their bodies to Gaza (the IDF recovered their remains two days ago), and the abduction of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Kfir and Ariel, and their subsequent murder in the Strip.

The Mujahideen Brigades collaborates closely with Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades (“Saraya Al-Quds”).

Pinta’s body was recovered thanks to “precise intelligence” obtained from a terrorist who was interrogated by the Shin Bet, along with additional information gathered by the Hostage Task Force in the IDF Intelligence Directorate, the IDF and Shin Bet said.


Hamas threats force halt in Gaza food aid distribution, GHF says
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced on Saturday that the reason for temporarily pausing operations was due to threats against the organization and its staff by Hamas.

"Hamas is the reason hundreds of thousands of hungry Gazans were not fed today. The group issued direct threats against GHF operations. These threats made it impossible to proceed today without putting innocent lives at risk," the statement read. "Hamas wants to return to a broken system it once controlled and exploited—diverting aid, manipulating distribution, and putting its own agenda ahead of the Palestinian people’s basic needs. However, GHF will not be deterred.

"We remain committed to safe, secure, and independent aid delivery. We are actively adapting our operations to overcome these threats and fully intend to resume distributions without delay."

Pauses in humanitarian aid in Gaza
Aid distribution in Gaza was halted on Friday after the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations, in the latest disruption to its troubled relief effort.

In a day of confusing messaging, the GHF first announced its distribution sites in southern Gaza were closed, then it revealed that it had actually handed out food, before saying that it had had to close its gates as a precautionary measure.

"The distribution was conducted peacefully and without incident; however, it was paused due to excessive crowding that made it unsafe to proceed," it said in a statement.


IDF likely locates body of Mohammed Sinwar under European Hospital in Khan Yunis - report
The IDF located the body of a terrorist on Friday, believed to be that of Muhammad Sinwar, in an underground complex beneath the European Hospital near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, Army Radio reported on Saturday

The body was allegedly located in a tunnel, alongside about 10 other bodies of terrorists.

Sinwar, former head of the Hamas military wing, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on May 13 in Khan Yunis.

The operation, conducted jointly with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), targeted senior Hamas figures operating in an underground command and control center.

IDF killing of Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar in Gaza hospital
The military may have used, back in May, a bunker buster bomb in their attempted attack against Sinwar, defense sources told the Post.

Following that initial attack, the IDF reportedly struck the area where Sinwar was allegedly located a second time, with the objective of preventing the evacuation of casualties, Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported.

The IDF previously said the airstrike was carried out using extensive intelligence measures aimed at avoiding civilian harm. The targeted command center was located beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, but hospital operations were not disrupted.
IDF drone video reveals Hamas command center under Khan Yunis hospital
The IDF released footage on Saturday showing a Hamas tunnel network discovered beneath the European Hospital compound in Khan Yunis, Gaza.

According to the IDF, the tunnel served as a command-and-control center for senior Hamas operatives. The footage, distributed by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, shows a complex underground infrastructure with multiple rooms that housed weapons, intelligence materials, and operational equipment.

The tunnel was located directly beneath one of Gaza’s largest hospitals, the IDF said, and was used by Hamas’s military wing to coordinate attacks on Israeli forces.

The footage was obtained during an operation carried out by the IDF’s 36th Division, guided by the Intelligence Directorate and involving troops from the Golani Brigade, the Yahalom Unit, and special forces. During the searches, troops also discovered the bodies of several Hamas operatives in the tunnel. The identities of those killed are still under review.

“This tunnel system beneath the European Hospital highlights Hamas’s ongoing use of civilian infrastructure for terrorist purposes,” the IDF said in a statement. “Hamas cynically exploits hospitals to shield its military operations, putting civilians and medical staff at risk.”


Gaza: IDF kills two terrorists who ‘posed as journalists’
Israel Defense Forces troops operating in the Gaza Strip killed two Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists “who posed as journalists,” the military said on Saturday.

The pair, identified by the military as Suleiman Hani Saliman Hajaj and Samir al-Rifai, operated from a command center in the courtyard of Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.

“The terrorists exploited the hospital to plan and execute terror activities against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers,” the statement continued.

According to the IDF, Hajaj served as a deputy commander of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad engineering cell.

“Terrorists in Gaza continue to use hospitals for terrorist purposes while cynically exploiting the population and endangering civilians’ lives,” the army said.


Call me Back Podcast: The Emerging Day After in Gaza - with Joseph Braude
Political news has been erupting out of Israel over the past two days, as tensions simmer within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. The coalition’s ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, announced they will join the opposition to vote in favor of dissolving the Knesset due to its failure to pass a law exempting the ultra-orthodox from serving in the IDF. If a simple majority votes in favor of dissolving the Knesset, it would force parliamentary elections.

As if the news pouring out of Israel wasn’t enough, major developments are also taking place in Gaza. The food-aid program, run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, is showing signs of success in circumventing Hamas, weakening its political power of Gaza’s population. This food aid program is not just a humanitarian endeavor; it is part of a larger strategy that was developed over the past year, referred to as humanitarian bubbles, in which Hamas-free zones are intended to be administered by vetted local Palestinians unaffiliated with Hamas.

Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed today that Israel is providing weapons to an anti-Hamas militia, led by Yasser Abu-Shabab. The rise of Israel-backed Abu-Shabab, along with the weakening of Hamas’ political and military power, has prompted a conversation about whether we are witnessing the early stages of the day after Hamas in Gaza.

Our guest today is Joseph Braude. He leads the Center for Peace Communications (CPC), a nonprofit that amplifies Gazans who oppose Hamas, and has been active inside the Gaza Strip throughout the war. If you’ve seen a video of Gazans speaking out against Hamas, chances are they came to you through the CPC.

It is the first time we will be speaking with someone who has been in close contact with direct sources inside Gaza’s population. In fact, Joseph has helped us receive audio to questions that the Call me Back podcast sent directly to Gazan civilians.

00:00 Introduction
05:28 Israel’s new aid program and its threat to Hamas
20:02 Anti-Hamas protest movement
27:09 Trump’s Gaza migration plan
31:25 Who is Abu-Shabab?
35:22 Enclave program in Gaza
41:28 The day after and de-radicalization in Gaza
53:28 Closing




Mark Levin Destroys the Anti-Israel Narrative in Under 10 Minutes
Mark Levin dismantles the myth that Israel is above criticism and exposes the blatant double standards in media, academia, and government. From the silence on China’s genocide of the Uyghurs to the glorification of terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, Levin reveals how anti-Israel propaganda is poisoning young minds and undermining Western values. This is a must-watch takedown of the radical left’s lies, the influence of hostile foreign powers like Qatar and China, and the truth about freedom in the Middle East.


Ben Shapiro: Why Tucker Carlson Is WRONG About Iran



BBC Bargain Hunt expert jailed over art sales to ‘Hezbollah financier’
A BBC Bargain Hunt art expert who failed to report a series of high-value art sales to a man suspected of financing terrorist group Hezbollah has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, sold artwork worth around £140,000 to Nazem Ahmad, a man designated by US authorities as a suspected financier from the Lebanese organisation.

Ojiri, of Brent, north London, previously pleaded guilty to eight offences under section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000. He is believed to be the first person to be charged with the specific offence.

The art dealer, who has also appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Road Trip, was charged with failing to disclose information about transactions in the regulated art market sector on or before dates between October 2020 and December 2021.

US prosecutors say Mr Ahmad was a “major Hezbollah financial donor” who used high-value art and diamonds to launder money and fund the group.

He is accused of evading terrorism sanctions by using front companies to acquire more than 160 million dollars (£120 million) in artwork and diamond services.

Following the introduction of new money laundering regulations in January 2020 that brought the art market under HMRC supervision, Ojiri is said to have discussed the changes with a colleague, indicating awareness of the rules.

The court previously heard the total value of the artwork sold was around £140,000.
Dawn French apologises for ‘mocking tone’ in video about 7 October massacre
Comedian Dawn French has apologised after posting a video online about the Israel-Hamas conflict, saying she “clumsily used a mocking tone” and it “appeared one-sided”.

The Vicar Of Dibley actress posted a video on social media this week in which she switched between her normal voice and a higher pitched voice.

In the video about the conflict, she said: “Complicated, no, but nuanced”, adding: “Bottom line is, no.”

Then at one point she said in the higher pitched voice: “Yeah, but you know they did a bad thing to us.”

French has now posted a statement on X saying she has taken down the video and apologised, saying her intention was never “to mock, or dismiss, or diminish the horror of what happened” on 7 October 2023.

The statement, posted on Saturday, says: “Ok, it’s important to address this. I posted a video in the style I’ve been using for social media in an effort to convey an important point. I clumsily used a mocking tone.


Anti-Zionists Are Excluding LGBTQ+ Jews From Pride Spaces, New Report Says
Anti-Israel activists in the LGBTQ+ community are subjecting Zionist Jews to extreme levels of discrimination, including expulsions from major progressive groups and even physical assault, according to a new report by the nonprofit A Wider Bridge.

The release of the report — titled “Unsafe Spaces: Addressing Antisemitism Against LGBTQ+ Jews and Ensuring Pride Safety” — comes as LGBTQ community members across the Western world observe Pride Month, a period of festivities which celebrate the expansion of social and legal rights that have allowed gays to live more freely and authentically than ever in human history. For pro-Israel Jews, however, Pride Month 2025 is a challenging moment, as anti-Zionism has creeped into and crowded out many queer spaces which once welcomed them with open arms.

From online forums to the streets, the maltreatment and “erasure” of Jewish queer identity is severe, the report explains. Eighty-two percent of LGBTQ Jews have reported being expelled from social media channels or harassed on them, A Wider Bridge noted.

Earlier this year, NYC Dyke March, a public demonstration held by members of the lesbian community in New York City, banned self-proclaimed “Zionists” from its annual event, citing a desire to stand against the so-called “genocide” occurring in Gaza. Last year, the NYC Dyke March came under scrutiny after organizers settled on “genocide” as the theme of its 2024 event. In a statement, decrying “ethnic cleansing, violence, and dehumanization,” the organization compared the ongoing war in Gaza, to mass killings occurring in Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Sudan.

Also in 2024, the Dyke March Committee formally barred “Zionists” from participating in the Pride March, and during the event Jews were attacked and heckled after being seen wearing the Star of David on their clothing. That same year, an LGBTQ-friendly bar in the Brooklyn borough of New York City refused to hold a screening party for the Eurovision talent competition due to the participation of an Israeli contestant.


Pro-Palestinian activist who avoided prosecution after chanting 'I love the 7th of October' is Islamist refugee granted asylum in Britain
A pro-Palestine activist who avoided prosecution after he chanted 'I love the 7th of October' is a Muslim refugee granted asylum in the UK, it emerged today.

Mohammad al-Mail, a 27-year-old Kuwaiti national granted refugee status in the UK in 2017, also shouted 'I like an organisation that starts with H' through a megaphone at an anti-Israel protest in Swiss Cottage, north-west London, last September.

Mr Al-Mail was arrested by police after the chants over alleged terrorism offences, but after eight months a decision was taken by the CPS not to charge him.

He is said to have avoided prosecution by telling officers that the organisation he claimed to love was actually the Home Office, and not terror group Hamas.

This is despite him operating a campaign group which states its aim is to achieve 'Islamic supremity' and which has criticised terror groups such as Al-Qaeda for failing to advance global jihad.

Meanwhile at the same rally, a Jewish counter-protester was also arrested for holding a placard mocking deaths during attacks involving explosive pagers in Lebanon.

The attack targeted Hezbollah members and leaders, and the placard depicted the leader of the proscribed terror group holding a pager, with the word 'beep' repeated three times. The man was charged over the incident in May, but the case has since been dropped.

Earlier this year, Mr Al-Mail appeared to make light of the accusations against him, telling an Arabic language podcast the case 'fell apart', the Telegraph reports.

He described his answer to police when asked what he meant by the letter H: 'Immediately, I answered, 'It could be the Home Office', you know, the ministry of the interior. 'I love the ministry of the interior', and so on.

'Truly, as the saying goes, 'The worst calamity is the one that makes you laugh'.

The Met referred the case twice to the CPS, but both times it decided not to press charges - reportedly due to the issue of it relying on 'speculation' to infer support for a proscribed terror organisation.

During the podcast, Mr Al-Mail told listeners to 'take advantage' of October 7, which saw 1,200 people killed by an Hamas incursion into Israel.

The resulting war has resulted in almost 55,000 Gazans being killed, many civilians.

'Not every day is like October 7,' Mr Al-Mail added. 'If an opportunity arises, we must fully exploit it. If you strike, make it hurt.'


OCR nominee says Department of Education could issue new regulation on campus antisemitism
Kimberly Richey, the nominee to be the assistant secretary of education for civil rights, said that the Department of Education should look at amending Title VI regulations and issuing new guidance to address the surge of antisemitism on campuses nationwide since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.

Richey, speaking at a confirmation hearing on Thursday before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said that regulations could be amended “to specifically address antisemitism,” and the Department of Education could issue new guidance “in a post-Oct. 7 world. The climate is very different than what it was five years ago, four years ago, three years ago.”

Currently, antisemitic discrimination is considered a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act as a form of discrimination based on shared ancestry, under an executive order from the first Trump administration. Enacting a formal regulation would give further force of law to the issue.

The Biden administration had been expected to issue a regulation providing further guidance around that executive order by December 2024.

Richey said she would also partner with other offices within the Department of Education to enforce civil rights laws to further protect Jewish students.

The nominee described the recent antisemitic terror attacks in Boulder, Colo., and Washington as “emblematic of the horrific acts that the Jewish students are facing across the country,” and praised the actions the Trump administration has taken thus far.


Tehran Awakens a Jacksonian Giant
Summer is just around the corner, and it’s already heating up in the Middle East. Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency revealed Iran had hidden evidence of some tests related to building nuclear weapons and had enriched enough uranium to make nine nuclear bombs on short notice. Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei then rejected the most recent American proposal in the nuclear negotiations and denounced "the rude, insolent U.S. leaders." Donald Trump fired back: "Time is running out on Iran's decision pertaining to nuclear weapons, which must be made quickly!"

The back-and-forth has perplexed and disoriented much of Washington. Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan recently said that Trump is "negotiating something that, in its broad elements, is going to look and feel pretty similar" to the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran. "I seem to be on the same page as Donald Trump," he continued. The strain has been too much for many of the Israel haters who claim to speak for Trump’s political base and favor an Obama-esque approach to the Islamic Republic. They have run into a major force in American politics, one that Khamenei should fear: America’s Jacksonians.

Before they crossed the Atlantic, the original Jacksonians were some of Europe’s most formidable warriors. British statesmen sprinkled these people, who originally hailed from the lawless borderland between Scotland and England, around imperial trouble spots. Their settlements in Northern Ireland gave them the name "Scots-Irish," and at the time of the American Revolution, they blocked Spanish expansion up from Florida and American-Indian raids across the Appalachians.

Other types of Americans, such as the Midwest’s heavily Catholic "Reagan Democrats," grafted onto the Jacksonian tree. Walter Russell Mead, who first identified this group in Special Providence, describes their values as "a deeply embedded, widely spread populist and popular culture of honor, independence, courage, and military pride." A "Jacksonian hero dares to say what the people feel and defies the entrenched elites." Andrew Jackson was one such hero; another is Donald J. Trump.

Trump rocketed into the White House largely thanks to his intuitive understanding of the Jacksonians and their resulting bond. They nod along to his criticisms of democracy promotion and nation building and are skeptical of long, drawn out wars. Since they prefer to ignore foreigners who they do not consider a threat, they can appear quite dovish.

They are not at all dovish about terrorism though, or about major terrorism sponsors like Iran. Since Iranian revolutionaries attacked the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979 and took 52 Americans hostage for more than a year, Jacksonians have loathed the mullahs. Iran’s intervening decades of supporting worldwide terrorism—killing Americans and systematically cheating on agreements—have not engendered any new warm feelings. Jacksonians do not want Iran to get the bomb, and the economic incentives that the Iranians are dangling do not change their minds.


Three boys aged 12 to 13 'who gang-raped Jewish girl while hurling anti-Semitic insults and condemning Israel' go on trial in France
Three boys aged 12 to 13 who 'gang-raped' a Jewish girl in an abandoned hanger in a Paris suburb while hurling anti-Semitic insults at her will go on trial.

The trial is part of an investigation into 'gang rape, death threats, insults, and anti-Semitic violence.'

It will take place behind closed doors inside a juvenile court.

Last June, local prosecutors opened an investigation into the rape and the alleged perpetrators were identified as three boys aged 12, 13 and 14 from Rueil-Malmaison, in the Hauts-de-Seine suburb northwest of the French capital.

The boys were charged with counts of aggravated rape, aggravated sexual assault, attempted extortion, invasion of privacy, threat of death, violence and insults.

With the latter two being aggravated due to them admitting the attack was related to the girl's religion.

The 12-year-old girl from Courbevoie, also in Hauts-de-Seine reported the rape to police in June 2024.

She said she went to the Henri Regnault square with her boyfriend when three teenagers grabbed her and took her to an abandoned hangar on the site of an old nursery nearby.

The three boys allegedly beat the girl and insulted her religion before raping her.

She told police that she had been called a 'dirty Jew' by her attackers, who had asked her questions about Israel.

The boys appeared in front of the police and reportedly admitted to the rape.

Afterwards rallies against anti-Semitism were organised across the country.
Elderly Jewish man assaulted in NYC while hanging hostage posters
A 72-year-old Jewish man was attacked while hanging up hostage posters in New York City's Upper East Side by young men who shouted pro-Palestinian slogans before they hit him, CBS News New York reported on Monday.

Amnon Shemi was hanging up hostage posters in his neighborhood when a group of young men approached him while yelling, "Free Palestine." Antisemitism is at a record high. We're keeping our eyes on it >>

"They start yelling, 'Free Palestine, free Palestine" Shemi said. "I got punched right over here [his eyebrow]. It's kind of hard to see it now."

The New York Police Department is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

Shemi has been hanging up hostage posters around the Upper East Side since the start of the Israel-Hamas War. He told WCBS that he'd anticipated an incident like this.

"I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, but I don't know what to tell you. Probably the war in Gaza is escalating the whole situation and antisemitism and all kinds of stuff," he said.




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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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