Friday, August 29, 2025

08/29 Links Pt1: Netanyahu releases footage of Hamas atrocities; Trump Admin Revokes Visas for Pal Officials for UN Meeting, Citing ‘Incitement to Terrorism’

From Ian:

Israel’s ceasefire dilemma: Hamas hostages, and the price of delay
From the local Palestinian point of view it should be emphasised that no serious country would invest in Gaza’s reconstruction while Hamas rules it, and Israel would likely block pro-Hamas states like Turkey or Qatar from doing so. Thus, a withdrawal leaving Hamas in power would condemn Gazans to miserable lives under a ruined land and cruel terrorist rulers.

Israel has, meanwhile, publicly set conditions for ending the war: Hamas’s disarmament, the demilitarisation of Gaza, the exile of its remaining leadership, and the installation of a third-party (not the Palestinian Authority) to manage Gaza’s civilian life and reconstruction. Crucially, Israel insists on retaining security authority, meaning IDF operations against terrorists would be permitted even after a withdrawal, similar to how Israel operates in the West Bank. The IDF would also establish a security perimeter inside Gaza to prevent infiltration to the border’s fence. If Hamas were to accept these terms, the war would end and Israel would withdraw.

But realistically, even after months of negotiations, Hamas is very unlikely to agree to such terms. Thus, if Israel agreed to the phased hostage Hamas now offered, by November, at the end of the 60 days of talks, Jerusalem would find itself facing an excruciating choice: launch a months-long war to conquer Gaza City and the central camps, or abandon its conditions and allow Hamas to retain control of the Gaza Strip.

The pressure inside Israel to fight will be enormous, but it will face an even louder and stronger anti-Israel coalition worldwide. Worse, Hamas would use the 60 days to prepare defences, plant explosives, and fortify its positions, and the IDF would need to retake ground it had already vacated. Any resumed war would then cost the IDF far more casualties.

At the heart of the dilemma is thus the fate of the hostages: should Israel agree to a partial deal now, rescuing half of them but leaving 10 in Hamas’s hands, and then fight later under far worse conditions? Or is it wiser to fight now – when military and diplomatic conditions are more favourable – but with double the number of hostages still held by Hamas, whose lives would be in grave danger?

Some argue that once Israel enters a ceasefire process, it may never be able to resume fighting – due to external pressures (Washington’s policy shifts, European sanctions) or internal ones (government collapse, elections). According to this view, Israel must fight now while it has strong U.S. backing, or risk losing its last chance to destroy Hamas.

Others claim that if Israel does accept a ceasefire, and Hamas then refuses its terms, Israel will regain international legitimacy for a renewed offensive, having proven its willingness to compromise. But this is wishful thinking. Experience shows that Israel’s “goodwill” is met with cynicism, especially in Europe. Even US support may not survive another two years of grinding war, no matter how Israel justifies it. This question must be raised directly with US officials, to clarify where they would stand if Israel chose the ceasefire path.

In short: on the long and difficult road to freeing Gaza from Hamas, dismantling its military, and rescuing the hostages, Israel now faces two options:

Delay war to secure the release of half the hostages now, but fight later under far harsher conditions, or perhaps lose the chance to fight altogether.

Fight now, under more favourable military and diplomatic conditions, but at the probable cost of more hostages’ lives.
Seth Mandel: The End of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon
Upon the news that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon will be ending its mandate, I will refrain from saying “good riddance.” It would be insufficient, after all. In fact, I wish UNIFIL only the greatest riddance in the world, a riddance the likes of which few have ever seen. A riddance that would be the envy of all the riddances that came before it.

Any time I mention some of UNIFIL’s old scandals, I hear from readers who are truly shocked. For UNIFIL stood out among the various agencies of the United Nations as the one that never tried to disguise its alliance with Israel’s genocidal enemies. Even UNRWA, the agency that became an adjunct of Hamas in Gaza, went through the motions of attempting to establish plausible deniability.

As I wrote recently, in 2006 UNIFIL stood accused of broadcasting sensitive Israeli troop movements during the war in Lebanon with Hezbollah. I picked up the phone and called the office of the UN secretary general to ask for confirmation. The office gave me the personal mobile number of a senior UNIFIL official on the ground in Lebanon. I called him and asked him about the allegations. He nonchalantly admitted on the record that yes, the allegations were correct.

But we don’t have to go back to 2006—or all the way to 2000, when UNIFIL withheld video proof of Israelis being kidnapped by Hezbollah—to understand why we should just give UNIFIL the gold watch and wave them off into the sunset. As I am writing this, proof of UNIFIL’s purposeful futility is all around us.

Israel and Lebanon, with the help of the United States, are engaged in negotiations over the disarming of Hezbollah. Almost 20 years ago, the Second Lebanon War ended with a UN Security Council resolution requiring Hezbollah to disarm. So why are we still negotiating over something that has been required for two decades by previous negotiations? Because the UN is useless, that’s why. And the consequences are visible all around the Mideast.

So this week, the U.S. decided it would only agree to the renewing of UNIFIL’s mandate if it would be the last such renewal. That way, UNIFIL could start preparing for the end. After 2026, it’ll pack up and go, ending nearly a half-century of thumb-twiddling.
NGOs and UN Agencies Demand Blind Acceptance, Now the "Halo Effect" Is Crumbling
For decades, there has been an unspoken rule: never question what the UN or major NGOs say. Reports are taken at face value. Their press releases become headlines, their statistics are repeated without scrutiny, and their conclusions are treated as objective truth. What NGO Monitor has long called the “Halo Effect”—the aura of credibility surrounding these organizations—meant that their findings were virtually immune to fact-checking and often amplified by the media.

How NGO information flows to media in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
October 7th changed something fundamental in this dynamic. For the first time, a broad spectrum of people—journalists, researchers, technologists, and ordinary citizens—began scrutinizing these organizations with a critical eye. Watchdogs had been doing this work for years in limited ways, but now thousands of independent voices from diverse backgrounds and political leanings are dissecting UN and NGO claims. Using open-source intelligence, statistical analysis, and investigative methods, they are exposing uncomfortable truths that can no longer be hidden. The “halo effect” is cracking. They are exposing: who wrote the reports, how the data was gathered, exposing contradicting evidence, what assumptions were made, and—most importantly—what agendas are being pushed.

The most recent is the famine declaration in Gaza City. The IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) released a report declaring famine in Gaza City. On paper, the IPC has strict criteria: mortality, acute malnutrition, and lack of food access must all be verified to declare famine. All requiring very strict methodologies. Yet the Gaza report sidestepped these standards. Instead, it relied on selective data, and questionable assumptions and methodologies. Since its release, data analysts have identified glaring flaws, while independent journalist Eitan Fischberger uncovered bias among one of its key authors—including open support for terrorist groups targeting Israeli civilians.

UN Watch Director Hillel Neuer revealed how Andrew J. Seal, co-author of IPC report on Gaza, often posts IRGC propaganda from Press TV & Iranian regime foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Araghchi, such as anti-US “false flag” conspiracy theories. He normalized IRGC's killing of 176 civilians on Ukrainian flight PS752. Calling him a “nutcase who backs the Houthis & Iran's regime.”

Even the U.S. envoy to the UN, speaking at the latest Security Council session, warned:
“We can only solve problems with credibility and integrity. Unfortunately, the recent report from the IPC doesn’t pass the test on either. One of the report's key authors has a lengthy record of bias against Israel, including openly justifying the Houthis' terrorist attacks against Israeli civilian targets.”

Two days ago, MFA Director General Eden Bar Tal sent a formal letter to the IPC demanding it retract its forged Gaza report. The evidence is clear: the IPC hid contradictory data, cherry-picked results, and manipulated figures—producing a fabricated report for political purposes. At his press conference, Bar Tal was even more direct:
“The IPC report is forged for political purposes. No doubt the IPC manipulated and ignored data, broke its own rules and hid contradictory evidence. That report was fabricated for a purpose—to support Hamas’ fake starvation campaign.”

This is where the Halo Effect comes full circle. The IPC could only publish such a document because it assumed nobody would question it. That is the power of the UN/NGO halo: the ability to present selective, distorted, or even fabricated findings as “science,” shielded by institutional prestige. But once the halo slips, the report looks less like a neutral study and more like a propaganda tool dressed in technical jargon. The expectation could not be clearer: forget definitions, ignore evidence, stop asking questions. Just accept our conclusions as holy gospel and sacred fact, including redefining “genocide.”


Netanyahu and bereaved mother reveal never-before-seen footage of Hamas atrocities
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, last night (Thursday, 28 August 2025), met with Sabine Taasa, who lost her husband and son in the 7 October massacre.

Taasa updated Mrs. Netanyahu on the status of her children, who were at home and were also wounded, and on the rehabilitation process that she and her children are undergoing.

As part of the global public diplomacy effort, a joint statement by the Prime Minister and Sabine Taasa is being distributed abroad today, in which a section of the atrocities video, that is very difficult to watch, and which was filmed by the security cameras in the Taasa family home in the moshav of Netiv Ha'asara, will be shown.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife thanked Sabine Taasa for joining the public diplomacy effort and approving the publication of the video, in order to make it clear to the world that Israel will not allow Hamas to repeat the atrocities of October 7 and will work to defeat it and return all of our hostages.

At the request of the family, and in order to safeguard the privacy of the minors who were filmed as they were injured, the video will not be distributed in Israel. We ask that you honor this request.
Video:
⚠️ Prime Minister Netanyahu released this video with Sabine Taasa, who lost her husband and son in the Oct 7 massacre. Her surviving children were also wounded and are still in rehabilitation.

Sabine approved the release of this harrowing footage from her family’s home near the Gaza border, captured by security cameras as Hamas terrorists carried out their atrocities. This footage is difficult to watch.

Trump Admin Revokes Visas for Palestinian Officials Ahead of UN General Assembly Meeting, Citing ‘Incitement to Terrorism’
The Trump administration on Friday revoked visas for Palestinian officials seeking to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York City next month, denying them entry into the United States as punishment for inciting terrorism against Israel and pursuing statehood outside of the established peace process.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio "is denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian National Authority (PA) ahead of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly," a State Department spokesman confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon. The Trump administration’s decision marks the first time the U.S. government has denied the Palestinian government permission to attend the U.N. gathering.

"The Trump Administration has been clear: it is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace," the State Department spokesman told the Free Beacon.

The decision is meant to derail the Palestinian officials’ unilateral bid to seek statehood when the U.N. General Assembly convenes for a session expected to revolve around the issue. France and Saudi Arabia hosted a two-state solution summit last month in hopes of building momentum for the recognition of a Palestinian state among U.N. member nations.

French president Emmanuel Macron announced last month he "will recognize the State of Palestine" as part of his country’s "commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East."

The U.S. government will only consider the PA and PLO "partners for peace" if they "consistently repudiate terrorism—including the October 7 massacre—and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by law and as promised by the PLO," the State Department spokesman said in a statement.

One of the more noteworthy forms of both organizations’ support for terrorism is known as "pay-to-slay," a program in which the PA and PLO provide millions of dollars to imprisoned terrorists and their families. While PA president Mahmoud Abbas announced the end of the policy earlier this year, he subsequently said, "Even if we have [only] one penny left, it is for the prisoners and Martyrs." There is no evidence to suggest the PA ceased its payments to terrorists after Abbas’s decree.

The PA must also end its pursuit of legal charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice, which the Trump administration described as "attempts to bypass negotiations."

The State Department spokesman cited the PA’s "efforts to secure the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state" as another reason for the punitive measures. "Both steps materially contributed to Hamas’s refusal to release its hostages, and to the breakdown of the Gaza ceasefire talks," he said.

Preexisting agreements between the United States and United Nations mean the PA’s mission to the international organization will still receive waivers, but the State Department will not permit Abbas and other senior officials to enter the country.


Uniting for Peace vs. the UN Charter: What International Law Really Says
This restriction is crucial for understanding the 1950 Uniting for Peace resolution. That resolution allows the GA to recommend collective measures when the Security Council is deadlocked—but it does not authorize the GA to take binding action. The reason is simple: the GA cannot expand its own mandate by passing resolutions. Any attempt to claim that Uniting for Peace gives the General Assembly the power to impose sanctions, military action, or other coercive measures would directly violate Article 10, because the Charter does not allow the GA to create new powers for itself.

In short, the repeated use of the word “recommend” in Uniting for Peace isn’t a quirk—it reflects the constitutional limit imposed by the Charter: the GA can advise, it cannot command.

By contrast, the authority to actually deploy force lies only with the Security Council, under Chapter VII, Article 42, which allows the Council to take “such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security.” This is the exclusive mechanism for authorizing UN military action.

The Korean War is a case where South Korea formally requested UN assistance after being invaded by North Korea on June 25, 1950. In other situations, sending troops without the host state’s consent would constitute a violation of sovereignty and could be considered an act of aggression, prohibited under the Charter. This principle is reinforced by Article 2(4), which prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

Furthermore, even if a state or coalition acted on a GA recommendation under the Uniting for Peace resolution, Israel would retain the right to self-defense under Article 51, which protects the “inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations.” Since GA recommendations are not binding Chapter VII measures, any foreign attempt to impose a no-fly zone, send troops, or otherwise use force against Israel would clearly constitute an armed attack, fully triggering Israel’s right to defend itself.

Any attempt to bypass Israel’s consent would constitute an illegal invasion of Israeli sovereign territory, triggering Israel’s full right of self-defense under Article 51 and potentially escalating the conflict rather than resolving it.

Even further, several other provisions reinforce this framework:
Article 2(1) establishes the sovereign equality of all member states, meaning Israel’s territorial integrity and political independence cannot be overridden by a General Assembly majority.
Article 2(7) prohibits the UN from intervening in matters “essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state,” which includes Israel’s internal security and borders.
Article 24 confirms that the Security Council alone has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security
Article 2(4) prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. Together, these articles leave no legal basis for bypassing Israel’s consent or treating it as a territory where force or coercion can be imposed by the UNGA or other actors.

Finally, this is where they get creative. They argue that the “State of Palestine” can request action under the Uniting for Peace resolution. But here’s the problem: Article 80 of the UN Charter locks in all rights granted under existing mandates—including the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine. That Mandate explicitly recognized the right of the Jewish people to reconstitute their national home in Palestine. Article 80 preserved those rights. In plain terms, the only sovereign authority recognized under the UN Charter, Article 80 in the territory of the entire former Mandate is Israel.

Beyond the Charter, Palestine also fails to meet the Montevideo Convention criteria for statehood, which require: (1) a permanent population, (2) a defined territory, (3) a government, and (4) the capacity to enter into relations with other states. None of these conditions are fully satisfied for Palestine as a sovereign state under international law.

That’s why the “State of Palestine” is not a sovereign state—it was never granted sovereignty under the Charter, and nothing in Article 80 gives it that status. So when people claim Palestine can invoke Uniting for Peace, they’re not just stretching the law—they’re contradicting the very Charter they pretend to rely on.

This isn’t academic. UN officials, self-styled “legal” experts, activists, and some governments are now floating the idea of using Uniting for Peace to impose a no-fly zone, deliver “humanitarian” convoys, or even deploy foreign troops into Gaza. Legally, any attempt to bypass the Security Council or ignore Israel’s sovereignty is an armed attack under Article 51—not a neutral humanitarian act. This isn’t a minor technicality; it’s a direct threat to Israel’s security and regional stability. Pretending the General Assembly can “authorize” force is not just wrong—it sets a dangerous precedent. The pattern is clear. Framing Israel as a state whose sovereignty can be bypassed portrays it not as a legitimate nation with recognized rights, but as an obstacle to be coerced or punished. Suggesting the UN or activists can impose measures without Israel’s consent casts the state as illegitimate, even though the UN Charter fully recognizes its sovereignty. Worse, this logic could be applied anywhere: if the GA could authorize force against Israel, a majority of the world could claim the same right to invade any country it dislikes—from the U.S. to Germany—turning sovereign states into pawns of international opinion rather than law. This narrative doesn’t just demonize Israel; it undermines the entire international system, rewarding coercion and making global conflict more likely.


Human rights lawyers call for Netanyahu's arrest on Argentinian soil
Human rights lawyers said on Friday they have filed a criminal complaint in Argentina's federal courts seeking the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he sets foot in the country, amid reports of a possible visit in September that remains unconfirmed.

The criminal complaint filed in Argentina federal courts calls for Netanyahu's arrest in the country and an investigation into the Israeli political and military authorities for an incident on March 23 in which 15 people were executed, among them several first responders helping victims of a bombing, according to the complaint reviewed by Reuters.

Netanyahu was expected to visit Argentina in September, according to media reports, but the government has not confirmed the visit.

Argentina newspaper Clarin reported on Friday that Netanyahu may instead request a meeting with Argentina President Javier Milei while both leaders are in New York for the United Nations General Assembly at the end of September.

Argentinian attorneys say Netanyahu responsible for Gaza war
"It is understood that Netanyahu is criminally responsible as a co-perpetrator of the war crime of intentionally causing death by starvation; of crimes against humanity such as homicide, persecution, and other inhumane acts," said the complaint, which was filed by Argentinian human rights attorney Rodolfo Yanzon and Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

An arrest warrant for Netanyahu had already been filed in Argentinian federal courts in early August by the Association of State Workers (ATE) and the human rights group HIJOS.
Israel pulls out of major UK defense exhibition
Israel has withdrawn from a major military exhibition in London after British government officials imposed restrictions on its participation, the Defense Ministry in Jerusalem said on Friday.

The restrictions at the DSEI UK 2025 exhibition, scheduled to take place on Sept. 9-12, “amount to a deliberate and regrettable act of discrimination against Israel’s representatives,” a defense ministry statement read. “Accordingly, the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) will withdraw from the exhibition and will not establish a national pavilion,” it continued.

Israeli industries that are not state-owned and “that choose to participate will, however, receive the Ministry’s full support,” the statement added.

“At a time when Israel is engaged on multiple fronts against Islamist extremists and terrorist organizations—forces that also threaten the West and international shipping lanes—this decision by Britain plays into the hands of extremists, grants legitimacy to terrorism and introduces political considerations wholly inappropriate for a professional defense industry exhibition,” it continued.

DSEI (Defence and Security Equipment International) is a biennial event that draws hundreds of firms from dozens of countries.

Last year, the French government announced that Israeli companies could exhibit at November’s Euronaval defense exhibition near Paris only if they have not participated in the wars against terrorists in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Citing constitutional principles of equality, a Paris court reversed the decision on Oct. 30.

In June 2025, organizers of the Paris Air Show walled off parts of Israeli pavilions, sparking a diplomatic incident.
Turkey says airspace and trade closed to Israel after ‘reckless attacks’ in Gaza
Turkey has severed all commercial and economic ties with Israel including closing its airspace to its planes, foreign minister Hakan Fidan has claimed.

“We have completely cut off our trade with Israel,” he told lawmakers during a debate on Gaza in the Turkish parliament.

“We do not allow Turkish ships to go to Israeli ports. We do not allow their planes to enter our airspace.”

Fidan said Israel’s “reckless attacks on Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iran is the clearest sign of a terrorist state mentality defying international order”.

Turkish parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus also called for Israel to be suspended from the UN and other international organisations during the debate, over its policies in Gaza, local media reported.

Turkey has signed an international initiative at the UN alongside 52 countries which calls for a halt in the supply of weapons and ammunition that “feeds Israel’s war machine”.

Last May it said it would stop all trade with Israel until the country allows humanitarian aid to flow uninterrupted into Gaza.

Turkey and Israel have had a free-trade agreement in place since 1997, with steel, oil and plastic among the major trade items.

Bilateral trade stood at nearly $6.8 billion in 2023, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute data. More than 75 per cent of this was Turkish exports.


Israeli strike on Yemen said to kill Houthi prime minister, other top officials
The IDF assesses that the entire Houthi cabinet — including the prime minister and 12 other ministers — were likely killed in Thursday’s strikes in Yemen, Channel 12 reported Friday, without citing any sources.

The network said the assessment was not definitive and that the IDF was still working to reach a clearer understanding of the strike’s results.

Yemen’s Al-Jumhuriya channel and the Aden Al-Ghad newspaper reported that Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in an Israeli attack on an apartment in the capital Sanaa, with the latter reporting that several of his companions were killed as well.

It appeared from the reports to have been a separate strike from the one that was said target 10 senior Houthi ministers as they gathered in a location outside of the capital to hear a speech by the group’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi.

The IDF on Friday confirmed that the Houthi defense minister and chief of staff were targeted in that attack. As of Friday afternoon, it was still awaiting confirmation of the results.

Channel 12 said the two were en route to the location of the cabinet meeting shortly before the strike and were apparently at the site when it was hit.

The outcome of that attack has yet to be fully determined, although political sources cited Thursday by Channel 13 news claimed that “the direction is positive, it seems the attack succeeded,” and Ynet reported that “there is growing assessment that the entire Houthi military and governmental elite were eliminated in the attack.”

At a situational assessment held Friday on the military’s ongoing operations across the region, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said, “The Houthis operate as an additional terrorist branch of Iran, continue to attack Israel, and threaten regional and international stability. Our message is clear — there will be no tolerance.”

Israeli intelligence provided real-time details of the gathering, enabling the strike, which was carried out despite heavy air defenses in the area, the IDF said.

As al-Houthi delivered his address, Israel reportedly monitored it to see whether he realized senior officials were being targeted, and he gave no indication of being aware, reports said.


‘Blame Hamas’ for humanitarian aid issues in Gaza, Graham says
Israel is not to blame for difficulties in providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Hamas-run Gaza, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Thursday after visiting the Kerem Shalom crossing.

The border crossing is at the junction of two border sections: one between Israel and the Gaza Strip, and one between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. It is the main point of entry for humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The top priority is to ensure that the people of Gaza, not Hamas, are benefiting from the aid provided, stated Graham, chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees foreign aid programs and the U.S. State Department.

“The goal is to feed the people of Gaza and not to empower Hamas,” Graham stated. “There have been episodes of cigarettes and other banned items included in shipments that allow Hamas to continue to make money on the black market. To some extent, this is inevitable as all are operating under difficult circumstances.”

He said any problems were the fault of Hamas, not Israel, which attacked the Jewish state on Oct. 7, 2023, sparking the ongoing hostilities.

“I want to make it clear I have never bought into the narrative that Israel is intentionally starving the people of Gaza as a tool of war,” Graham said. “I blame Hamas for all the problems associated with the attack of Oct. 7 and its aftermath.

Graham said that he expected Israel to work with international organizations, and “I believe that they are.”

During his visit to the border crossing, Graham also toured an aid distribution facility operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, where the senator was able to “observe firsthand how this U.S.-backed effort delivers humanitarian assistance directly to those who need it most, and keeps it out of the hands of Hamas terrorists,” wrote Mike Huckabee, U.S. ambassador to Israel.


Netanyahu Raps Cindy McCain for Claiming Gaza ‘Starving’ After Privately Admitting Improvement
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Cindy McCain, chief of the World Food Program and widow of the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), was exaggerating claims of hunger in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, Netanyahu described meeting with McCain in Israel on Wednesday, and said that she had acknowledged a dramatic improvement in food supply since Israel began surging aid into Gaza a few weeks ago.

However, since the meeting, McCain had been telling media that the situation in Gaza is worsening, and that people are “starving.”.

Netanyahu’s office issued a statement:
On Wednesday, 27 August, Prime Minister Netanyahu met in Jerusalem with U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP).

They discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza and that Hamas loots the aid. Mrs. McCain acknowledged that the stolen aid that goes to Hamas is not humanitarian. Hamas seizes it and sells it at extortionate prices.

She said that during her recent visit to Gaza, she saw a dramatic improvement: food was available, prices had dropped, and markets showed goods in sufficient supply and at affordable prices.

It is regrettable that Mrs. McCain has since issued statements contradicting what she told us in Jerusalem. That is a misrepresentation.

Israel is enabling a steady flow of aid in sufficient quantities.

Instead of blaming Israel with false accusations, the WFP should fully cooperate with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is working diligently to provide food to the needy.

The only ones being intentionally starved in Gaza are our hostages held by Hamas.

McCain has clashed with the Israeli government before. In December 2024, she falsely claimed that two food aid trucks had entered Gaza the previous month; the actual number, Israel reported, was 847.


Scotland's former first minister Yousaf claims relative was killed at GHF aid site
"The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is like a tick to kill the largest number of Palestinians every day," former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf said on social media Thursday, quoting his cousin-in-law Sally in Gaza after one of his extended relatives was allegedly killed trying to get milk from a GHF distribution site.

The distant relative in question, identified as Ahmed, said that he had to go to the site despite the danger in order to get milk for his child.

"I'm only going to go this one time, and I'm not going to go again," Ahmed was quoted as saying.

"Sally goes on to say, 'What the world needs to know is that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is like a trick to kill the largest number of Palestinians every day,'" Yousaf quoted his cousin-in-law as saying. "'Every day, around 100 Palestinians are killed there trying to get food. Our men, our women, our children. Why, why, why? Why is this trick designed just to kill us? We're trying to find food for our families. Not just food - water, milk, and medicine too. So we go to the Humanitarian Foundation, never to return to our families.'"

"This is Gaza. This is a genocide, and the world is backing these facilities," Yousaf's wife Nadia said. "Famine has been declared, yet aid is blocked while the Foundation profits from their hunger. Food, water, and medicine must be allowed in through real aid agencies, and the world must not look away.

Yousaf's story has not been verified, but it is known that he has extended family and in-laws in Gaza. In July 2024, it was reported that he was facing a probe by the Scottish government over donations he made using government funds while his Palestinian in-laws were seeking to escape a Gaza warzone.


Honest Reporting: Why International Law Debunks "Genocide" Claims In Gaza (Part 1): An Insightful Conversation With Dr. Brian Cox, Adjunct Professor Of Law At Cornell University
Most news media outlets have long given up on pretending to explain the truth of the Hamas-Israel war, and instead are doing little more than regurgitating Hamas claims of "genocide" without even a second thought.

But the truth is far different than sound bites.

In this podcast, we sit down with Dr Brian Cox for an in-depth discussion of how international law debunks "genocide" claims and shows the legality of Israel's counter-terrorism operations against Hamas in Gaza.

Dr. Cox is an adjunct professor of Law at Cornell University, where his expertise is international criminal law, the law involving armed conflict, comparative military justice and national security law. He spent 22 years as a military lawyer for the U.S. Army, and is currently enrolled as a graduate student at Carleton University's journalism school in Ottawa.
Honest Reporting: Why International Law Debunks "Genocide" Claims In Gaza (Part 2): An Insightful Conversation With Dr. Brian Cox, Adjunct Professor Of Law At Cornell University
PART 2: Most news media outlets have long given up on pretending to explain the truth of the Hamas-Israel war, and instead are doing little more than regurgitating Hamas claims of "genocide" without even a second thought.

But the truth is far different than sound bites.

In this podcast, we sit down with Dr Brian Cox for an in-depth discussion of how international law debunks "genocide" claims and shows the legality of Israel's counter-terrorism operations against Hamas in Gaza.

Dr. Cox is an adjunct professor of Law at Cornell University, where his expertise is international criminal law, the law involving armed conflict, comparative military justice and national security law. He spent 22 years as a military lawyer for the U.S. Army, and is currently enrolled as a graduate student at Carleton University's journalism school in Ottawa.


Israeli journalist BLOWS LID OFF Leftist media’s hidden playbook (w/Gadi Taub)
We’re witnessing a culture of instant outrage that allows powerful movements to manipulate algorithms and distort reality, especially when it comes to Israel. What’s worse, the global left have figured out how to capitalize on the moment to push their agenda in Israel and throughout the West.

Dr. Gadi Taub, Israeli historian, author, journalist and host of the “Israel Update” podcast, joins host Danny Seaman (former senior official at the Prime Minister’s Office) to examine how short-form “viral truth” and selective moral concern elevate Gaza to the center of global attention while systemic abuses elsewhere are ignored, and how this media environment empowers propaganda over context.

Dr. Taub challenges decades of assumptions behind the two-state orthodoxy, arguing that Oct. 7, 2023 shattered the narrative of a viable peace partner. He discusses PA/UNRWA textbooks and incentives that glorify terror, contending that ideological indoctrination, not nation-building, frames Palestinian politics. The conversation probes Hamas’s strategy of embedding within civilian infrastructure, the exploitation of humanitarian aid and the international pressure that demands Israeli restraint while rarely demanding disarmament or accountability from Hamas.

The episode also interrogates elite media framing and political incentives. Taub responds to high-profile coverage in outlets like the “New York Times,” arguing that claims about Israeli leadership “prolonging war” invert realities on the ground and feed both anti-Israel activism on the left and isolationist currents on the right. The discussion touches on Qatar’s influence networks across media, sports, academia, and tech, and considers how Western post-colonial theory casts Zionism as illegitimate, fueling a broader information war that reaches Washington and European capitals.

Chapters
00:00 The Age of Immediacy and Outrage
02:44 Israel and Global Perception
06:04 The Left's Response to October 7th
08:45 The Palestinian Authority's Role
11:57 The Ideological Battle
14:44 The Propaganda War
18:08 The Future of Israeli Politics


Sparks fly as Jewish comedian Adam Friedland challenges Ritchie Torres over Israel support
A Jewish comedian confronted Rep. Ritchie Torres over his staunch support for Israel in a tense and emotionally charged interview published on Thursday.

“Do you feel in your heart that what you’re saying is right?” Adam Friedland asked Torres after the New York Democratic congressman rejected the idea that Israel is intentionally killing civilians in Gaza.

Friedland, 38, first rose to prominence as a co-host on the “Cum Town” podcast, a cult-favorite known for its subversive comedy. In 2022, he launched “The Adam Friedland Show,” which has drawn both criticism and praise for its incendiary interviews with a range of guests, including streamer Hasan Piker — who has a history of comments found to be offensive by many Jews — California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.

Friedland often confronts his guests with an offbeat, at times disorienting interview style that has become a hallmark of the show, which models itself as a deconstructed, ironic version of traditional late-night talk shows. His show has over 300,000 subscribers on YouTube and is increasingly a de rigueur stop for personalities seeking exposure to a left-wing “manosphere” audience.

The New Yorker recently profiled Friedland, and GQ magazine recently said he “could be the millennial Jon Stewart.” Like Stewart, who recently discussed Israel and Gaza on air with the left-wing Jewish writer Peter Beinart, Friedland was openly emotional during his conversation with Torres.

“The fact that I still f—king care about being Jewish is embarrassing,” he said at one point. “I should just be, like, a guy. This feels like a stain on our history, and it feels like it’s changed what being Jewish is.”

In the interview, Friedland often interrupted the lawmaker as the pair sparred over Torres’s staunch support for Israel amid rampant antisemitism in the United States. He also expressed deep pain over his own feelings about Israel, which he said were alienating him from Judaism.
Adam Friedland Tried to Shame Ritchie Torres on Gaza… It Backfired


ABC’s anti-Israel bias strikes again
Sky News Australia's Media Watch Dog Columnist Gerard Henderson has slammed the ABC for their blatant bias against Israel.




Gaza-bound flotilla set to sail from Spain on Sunday, with Greta Thunberg again in tow
Activists set to sail from Spain for Gaza on Sunday have called on governments to pressure Israel to let their flotilla through the naval blockade on the enclave.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, the largest to date, is expected to include dozens of boats carrying aid and hundreds of people from 44 countries. Sumud means “perseverance” in Arabic.

Among the activists set to take part in the flotilla are Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was detained and then deported by Israel after the IDF intercepted a separate Gaza-bound boat she joined in June. Also set to participate in the flotilla is left-wing Portuguese lawmaker Mariana Mortagua.

Israel has scuppered numerous attempts by international activists to penetrate the nearly 20-year-long blockade, including in 2010, when nine Turkish citizens were killed in a clash with IDF naval commandos who intercepted the Mavi Marmara flotilla.

The new flotilla comes after a UN hunger monitor said last week that parts of Gaza were suffering from famine. Israel, which stopped the flow of aid into Gaza for nearly three months until mid-May, has rejected the report as a “modern blood libel” and accused Hamas of looting aid deliveries.

Saif Abukeshek, one of the organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla, said the ball was in the politicians’ court to put pressure on Israel to let the activists through this time.


Children filmed praising Palestinian terrorist leaders at rally in Brussels
Israel’s ambassador to Belgium joined local politicians in condemning a protest in Brussels where two girls were filmed praising Hamas leaders in an Arabic-language song while sitting on the shoulders of keffiyeh-clad men.

“The future generation. Tell me who you admire, tell me who you teach your children to glorify, and I tell you who you are,” Israeli ambassador Idit Rosenzweig-Abu wrote. According to her Aug. 26 post on X, the video was filmed last week in central Brussels.

It shows the girls singing: “Glory to all our martyrs, glory to Yahya Sinwar, glory to Abu Hamza,” a reference to the Hamas senior leader killed by Israel in October, and Naji Abu Saif, a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades, who was killed in March.

They also praised Walid Nimer As’aad Daqqa, an Israeli Arab and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist who died in an Israeli prison in April.

“Belgistan in the year 2025: At a ‘Palestine’ demonstration in Brussels, Muslim children call to honor ‘our martyrs,’” Sam van Rooy, a lawmaker for the Flemish Interest (Vlaams Belang) party, wrote on X on Tuesday.

“They explicitly mention the murderous Hamas jihadist Yahya Sinwar, no less the architect of the genocidal jihadist mass slaughter of October 7, 2023 (the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust),” he noted. “Just imagine if these were native Flemish teenagers at a demonstration honoring Nazi leaders: Then there would be days of outrage from countless politicians and journalists!”

Separately, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever on Tuesday said during a press conference that “Hamas must disappear completely” before Belgium recognizes Palestinian statehood.




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