Wednesday, September 03, 2025

09/03 Links Pt1: Trump tells Hamas to give back ‘all 20 hostages’; $30 and You Can Become a Genocide Scholar; Sen. Flags FBI on 'Dangerous' Activities of the Palestinian Youth Movement

From Ian:

BESA: Debunking the Genocide Allegations: A Reexamination of the Israel-Hamas War from October 7, 2023 to June 1, 2025
The following study offers a thorough historical exploration and a quantitative-statistical analysis of the allegation that the State of Israel committed genocide against the Gazan population following the October 7, 2023, massacre. Specifically, we address the claims that Israel intentionally starved the Gazan population, that IDF ground forces deliberately massacred civilians, and that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) carried out indiscriminate bombings, failing to distinguish between combatants and civilians and conducting disproportionate strikes.

The goal of this study is to carefully assess both primary and secondary sources in order to draw independent conclusions about the factual aspects of the conflict. This process involved reviewing testimonies, primary sources, and the methodology of data collection utilized by organizations and researchers promoting the genocide allegation, as well as conducting statistical analysis and distinguishing between narratives promoted by various parties and verified facts. The purpose of our investigation is to identify the factual events that occurred, not to engage in legal or ethical discourse. While discussing the war’s legal and ethical implications is important, we firmly believe such discussion must be grounded in a solid foundation of facts to be meaningful as well as relevant.

Our focus on factual analysis in no way diminishes or ignores the severe human suffering in Gaza, nor does it seek to downplay the rhetoric or policy failures of the Israeli government. However, as we demonstrate throughout this report, subordinating factual analysis to the advocacy of a specific policy or ethical position undermines our ability to understand the facts needed to shape informed policy and ethical conduct. Therefore, we have made every effort to avoid taking any stance or offering recommendations that are not rooted in a comprehensive factual analysis.

This research is structured into eight chapters, each addressing different aspects of the Israel-Gaza conflict:
Chapter 1 examines accusations of the deliberate starvation of Gaza’s civilian population.
Chapter 2 addresses the lack of sufficient context for understanding Israel’s military actions during the war, particularly the challenges of urban warfare. We focus primarily on Hamas’s “human shields” practice and overall strategy, recognizing that war is shaped by reciprocal measures taken by all parties involved. Thus, the actions of one side to the conflict cannot be assessed without considering those of its adversary.
Chapter 3 provides an in-depth analysis of claims regarding deliberate killings of civilians.
Chapter 4 investigates allegations that Israel systematically violated the principles of distinction and proportionality in its strikes on the Gaza Strip.
Chapter 5 critically reviews Gaza Health Ministry (GMOH) data and manipulations. While recognizing the uncertainty of the available figures, we offer a speculative scenario for how these manipulations skewed the actual gender and age distribution of casualties, and draw conclusions as to plausible combatant-civilian casualty ratios.
Chapter 6 explores the capability of UN agencies, humanitarian organizations, and major media outlets to assess humanitarian crises in closed societies under oppressive regimes such as Hamas-controlled Gaza. It draws a comparison to Iraq under U.S. sanctions between 1991 and 2003, and explores the inability of said organizations to pierce the heavy-handed humanitarian deceptions of the Iraqi regime.
Chapter 7 evaluates the ability of UN agencies and human rights organizations to credibly distinguish between civilians and combatants among war casualties in contexts marked by manipulation and politicization within closed or controlled societies. This chapter includes findings from a comparative analysis of the 2002 Battle of Jenin, the 2006 Lebanon War, and previous conflicts in Gaza.
Chapter 8 analyzes the methodologies used by UN agencies, human rights organizations, and affiliated journalists and researchers that have led to recurring analytical failures, as well as the lack of subsequent insights or corrective action, even when these failures were eventually acknowledged by the same organizations.
Phyllis Chesler: Better to be seen as the strong man
In 2023, I advised colleagues not to show the video that Hamas filmed of their sadistic murders on Oct. 7, certainly not at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. I said that the sight of Jewish blood always unleashes denial and even more Jew-hatred.

Soon enough, I also understood that the sight of Jewish military prowess unleashes even more Jew-hatred. As Israel fought to ensure that Hamas could not make good on their threat of even more Oct. 7-style attacks on Israeli soil and displayed an extraordinary command of technology in terms of its pinpoint strikes against Hezbollah, the Houthis and their paymaster, a near-nuclear Iran, the entire world condemned Israel, not Hamas, as “genocidal” and accused Israel of causing a famine in Gaza.

Jewish and Israeli compassion, coupled with high ethical standards, made no difference. Even as Israel expertly minimized the civilian-to-combatant ratio in Gaza and provided food and aid to Gazans so that no one starved, the entire world still loudly condemned Israel.

That’s because the propaganda “fix” was already long in place.

Since the late 1950s, Soviet Russia, left-wing Western billionaires and Islamists everywhere have royally funded the business of brainwashing Westerners. Thus, at the sight of Jewish blood and Israeli military might, wealthy and well-educated people, as well as illiterate, vulgar mobs of Muslims, marched against Israel on every continent and menaced Jews individually. The academics and the arts community, with their glitterati-signed petitions and letters, urged that Israeli individuals and the country itself be boycotted. Many stopped traffic and university classes in North America and Europe to “free Palestine.”

Not a word was uttered about freeing the Israeli hostages being buried alive and tortured somewhere along the 300 miles of weaponized Hamas tunnels, beneath mosques, hospitals, schools and homes in Gaza. Not a word about the now 901 Israelis who died in battle or about the countless number of Israelis who’ve been wounded or displaced, or about the Israeli civilians who’ve been traumatized for life.
Seth Frantzman: Gulf countries hold meeting ahead of UNGA that might see declaration of a Palestinian state
Saudi Arabia and France work towards a Palestinian state
This comes as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron held discussions on Tuesday on the “dire situation in Palestine,” Saudi-based newspaper Arab News reported.

The crown prince, “who received a call from Macron, reiterated the Kingdom’s position for an immediate end to Israel’s war on Gaza and the Occupied Territories,” the report said. “The crown prince also condemned any measures aimed at undermining a two-state solution to the situation.”

“Saudi Arabia and France have led an initiative to recognize a Palestinian state,” it added. “In July, Macron announced France would formally recognize Palestine during the UN General Assembly later this month, becoming the first G7 country to make the commitment.”

The key meetings between the UAE and Egypt and then the UAE and Saudi Arabia, along with announcements by Bahrain, Egypt, and Riyad, all point in the same direction: The Gulf is rolling out policies before the UN meetings.

The development comes as the PA is messaging that it is concerned Israel is preventing it from returning to Gaza and thus enshrining Hamas rule there. Israel has said neither the PA nor Hamas will rule Gaza.

In the absence of a clear strategy, however, it appears Hamas will continue to rule. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir has warned that Israel is slouching toward military rule in Gaza if the Gaza City offensive goes forward.

This comes amid talk of Israel applying sovereignty to part of the West Bank. The Gulf states are concerned about this trend.


Israel tells Hamas to surrender or see Gaza City leveled as group says it’s open to deal
Israeli leaders on Wednesday dismissed a statement from Hamas declaring its willingness to free all the hostages in an exchange for ending the war in Gaza, vowing to go ahead with the planned invasion of Gaza City if the Palestinian terror group doesn’t accept Jerusalem’s conditions to permanently halt the fighting.

The statement from Hamas, which said the terrorist organization was still waiting for Israel’s reply to the ceasefire proposal it accepted two weeks ago, came after US President Donald Trump demanded the release of the remaining living captives.

Hamas stressed that it was willing “to enter into a comprehensive deal in which all enemy prisoners held by the resistance will be freed in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners held by the occupation.” Hamas refers to the hostages it holds as prisoners.

“This agreement will end the war on the Gaza Strip, result in the withdrawal of all occupation forces from the entire Gaza Strip, open the border crossings to allow the entry of all the Gaza Strip’s necessities and start the process of rebuilding,” Hamas continued.

The terror group emphasized that it was ready to form “an independent national administration of technocrats” to run Gaza.

Israel has said it would only accept such if Hamas surrenders and disarms, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated in his response to the statement.

“This is more spin by Hamas, containing nothing new,” Netanyahu’s office said.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the war can end immediately if five conditions are met — the release of all hostages; the disarmament of Hamas; the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip; Israeli security control in Gaza; and “the establishment of an alternative civilian administration that does not indoctrinate for terror, does not dispatch terror, and does not threaten Israel.”

“Only these conditions will prevent Hamas from rearming and repeating the October 7 massacre again and again, as it openly vows to do,” Netanyahu’s office added.
Trump tells Hamas to give back ‘all 20 hostages’ and ‘it will end’
US President Donald Trump warned the Hamas terror group on Wednesday to give back “all 20 Hostages,” in order to bring about a rapid end to the war in Gaza.

“Tell Hamas to IMMEDIATELY give back all 20 Hostages (Not 2 or 5 or 7!), and things will change rapidly. IT WILL END!” he posted on his Truth Social network.

Trump appeared to be referring only to the hostages still thought to be alive, as terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 48 hostages total, including 47 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023.

They include the bodies of at least 26 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. One of the dead, Hadar Goldin, was an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.

Trump caused concern among the families of the hostages when he suggested last month that fewer than 20 hostages remained alive.

Gal Hirsch, the government’s point man on the hostages, said that Israel was not aware of any change to the number of living hostages, despite Trump’s claims.

In recent days, the US president has started reiterating his belief that Israel needs to end the war quickly, telling the Daily Caller earlier this week that “they’re gonna have to get that war over with,” as it was “hurting Israel.”

But he also has indicated his support for Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City, asserting in recent weeks that Jerusalem must “finish the job” against Hamas and claiming that the remaining hostages will only be released after the group is destroyed.


Smotrich proposes annexing 82% of West Bank in bid to prevent Palestinian state
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Wednesday unveiled a proposal for Israel to annex 82 percent of the West Bank, even as the United Arab Emirates warned that such a move would spell the end of Israel’s integration into the Middle East.

The plan, unveiled together with a map of proposed borders on Wednesday, is the most concrete expression thus far of growing momentum in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government to apply Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank in response to a range of Western countries plan to recognize a Palestinian state. Smotrich and other longtime proponents of Israel annexing the territory say their moment has come, despite international warnings against such a move.

“The broad consensus for sovereignty is a direct result of a deep understanding that we can never allow an existential threat to establish itself among us, and after decades of hesitation, it is time to state this clearly and act accordingly,” Smotrich said on Wednesday in a joint statement with Israel Ganz, who heads the Yesha Council, an umbrella body for West Bank settlements.

Using the biblical name for the West Bank, they added, “It is time to apply Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and remove once and for all the idea of dividing our small land and establishing a terrorist state in its heart.”

Smotrich, who chairs the far-right Religious Zionism party and is in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, supports annexation of the West Bank and Gaza, and is an adamant opponent of Palestinian statehood. He has taken other steps to entrench Israel’s control of the West Bank in recent weeks, including advancing plans to build in a critical north-south corridor east of Jerusalem known as E1. On Tuesday, the Defense Ministry declared a large swath of the West Bank to be state land.

“Continuing to build and establish,” Smotrich posted on X in reference to that decision. “Removing the danger of an Arab terror state from the agenda.”
UAE warns Israel that West Bank annexation could derail Abraham Accords
The United Arab Emirates has warned Israel that annexation of the West Bank would effectively destroy the Abraham Accords, with a senior UAE diplomat describing annexation as “a red line” that “would end the vision of regional integration.”

In an interview with Times of Israel, Emirati special envoy Lana Nusseibeh said that “when Hamas tried to derail the Abraham Accords vision of regional integration with the October 7 terror attacks, we were firm in our response.” The UAE immediately condemned the attack and recognised Israel’s security concerns.

However, she said “we are worried that all of us in the Middle East are moving toward a point of no return…The Abraham Accords’ tenets of prosperity, coexistence, tolerance, integration and stability have never looked more under threat than [they are] today.”

Far right members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition have been increasingly strident in their demands for Israel to annex a large portion of the West Bank. This week, Bezalel Smotrich announced a plan which would see 82% of land in the West Bank – almost all of the terrain outside key Palestinian cities – annexed by Israel.

In a joint statement with Israel Ganz, leader of the Yesha Council of West Bank settlements, Smotrich said: “The broad consensus for sovereignty is a direct result of a deep understanding that we can never allow an existential threat to establish itself among us, and after decades of hesitation, it is time to state this clearly and act accordingly.

“It is time to apply Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and remove once and for all the idea of dividing our small land and establishing a terrorist state in its heart.”


No ‘unilateral recognition’ of Palestinian state, Rubio tells French counterpart
Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state and national security advisor, told Jean-Noël Barrot, the French foreign minister, that Washington is strongly opposed to “any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” according to Tommy Pigott, the principal U.S. State Department deputy spokesman.

Recognizing a Palestinian state, which France plans to do, “would reward Hamas for Oct. 7 and hinder efforts to bring all hostages home,” Rubio told Barrot, per the U.S. readout of the Sept. 2 call.

The U.S. and French officials also talked about Russia and Ukraine, Iran, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pigott said.


In harsh rebuke, Netanyahu calls Belgian counterpart ‘weak’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his Belgian counterpart a “weak leader” on Wednesday, following the Belgian foreign minister’s announcement of sanctions against Israelis and approval for recognizing a Palestinian state.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever “is a weak leader who seeks to appease Islamic terrorism by sacrificing Israel,” read a statement posted on X by the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, quoting Netanyahu. “He wants to feed the terrorist crocodile before it devours Belgium. Israel […] won’t go along and will continue to defend itself.”

Netanyahu’s harsh-worded rebuke seemed connected to Tuesday’s announcement by Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot of 12 measures against Israel, including a ban on imports from Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria; limits on consular aid to Belgians living in the disputed region; and restrictions on government contracts with Israeli companies. Also in place are entry bans targeting “two extremist Israeli ministers, several violent settlers and Hamas leaders,” as Prévot put it.

Prévot also said that Belgium would recognize a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly in New York this month, though he tied the implementation of such recognition—meaning the establishment of bilateral ties and other steps—to the removal of Hamas from power and the return of Israel’s hostages. These conditions are widely thought to have been introduced by De Wever, a center-right politician who has opposed recognition.


Inside the 'Leading Scholars' Association' That Declared a Genocide in Gaza. It Includes Human Rights Activists, Psychologists, Museum Professionals, and Lots of Iraqis.
When the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) passed a resolution declaring that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, mainstream media outlets from the New York Times to the Washington Post to Reuters described the association as a "leading" academic voice on the topic. "On Monday," the Times wrote, "the International Association of Genocide Scholars, a leading group of academic experts on the topic, declared that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza met the legal definition of genocide."

So what exactly is the IAGS? Though the association's title indicates that the IAGS is composed of genocide scholars, its members actually include a swath of "academic scholars, human rights activists, students, museum and memorial professionals, policymakers, educators, anthropologists, independent scholars, sociologists, artists, political scientists, economists, historians, international law scholars, psychologists, and literature and film scholars," according to its website.

Those who don't fit one of those 17 titles need not be discouraged. To become an active IAGS member, one needs only to fill out a biographical form and pay a membership fee—$125 for a year, $210 for two years, or $1,200 for a lifetime. Doing so provides access to the association's internal Listserv, newsletter, job listing notifications, calls for papers, and biennial conferences. It also unlocks the ability to "nominate individuals for and receive IAGS institutional awards" and join the "IAGS Women's Caucus and the Indigenous People's Caucus."

The association's bylaws, meanwhile, state that members must only "be current in their dues" to be considered in good standing—and propose resolutions on genocide. The IAGS executive board then determines "whether or not the proposed resolution will be submitted to the IAGS membership for a vote." Voting is conducted via email.

Passing a resolution is not onerous, either. The permissive membership and resolution proposal policies are important because of the association's low bar for passing resolutions. "For a proposed resolution to pass," IAGS bylaws state, "voting must have been undertaken by a quorum of more than 20% of paid up IAGS members at the time of the vote." The association says it represents "600 members from all continents." Only 129 of those members, or roughly 22 percent, voted on the Gaza resolution, according to Sara Brown, a longtime IAGS member who served on its advisory board. The IAGS told the Post that 86 percent of respondents voted in favor of the resolution. That amounts to roughly 110 yes votes reflecting just 18 percent of the group's total membership.

None of that context made its way into mainstream media coverage of the vote. The Times described the IAGS as "a leading group of academic experts on the topic," while the Post called it "the oldest and largest association of genocide scholars." The Post also touted the fact that a "large majority—86 percent—of members who voted on the resolution approved it" without noting that less than 30 percent of members actually voted.


$30 and You Can Become a Genocide Scholar
Key takeaways:
The International Association of Genocide Scholars may sound like the “world’s leading experts” on genocide, but all you need to become a member is a credit card.
The IAGS claimed that an overwhelming majority of its membership voted in favor of a resolution declaring that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, despite a massive majority of its membership not even participating in the vote.
These claims were amplified by media buying into the false narrative of Israeli “genocide” as promoted by anti-Israel activists hell bent on blackening Israel’s name.

“Israel committing genocide in Gaza, world’s leading experts say,” blared this BBC headline and similar others in the international media.

Damning stuff. After all, who should know more about genocide than the “world’s leading experts” on the subject?

But, like most of the anti-Israel news appearing daily, it’s bogus. It turns out that, as HonestReporting board member Salo Aizenberg discovered, all you need to be a genocide scholar is to own a credit card. For a minimum of only 30 dollars, you can become one of the “world’s leading experts.”

Aizenberg (and many other interested people) paid (as little as $30 for a year) to become a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, which describes itself as a “global, interdisciplinary, non-partisan organization that seeks to further research and teaching about the nature, causes, and consequences of genocide, and advance policy studies on genocide prevention.”

“Non-partisan,” it certainly isn’t. Only a few days ago, the organization passed a resolution declaring that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Who were these experts passing judgment on Israel’s actions against Hamas terrorists in Gaza?

As Aizenberg discovered upon joining, the membership isn’t exclusively academics, historians, librarians, or even recognized experts on genocide.

Indeed, it became clear that the IAGS wasn’t checking who joins.

Shortly after pro-Israel activists started joining the IAGS to expose its failings, the organization appeared to take action, shutting down its membership page and removing its membership list from public view.

The organization’s social media also appeared to be offline as new applicants were marked as “inactive,” including genuine and legitimate genocide scholars who happen to be pro-Israel like Elliot Malin.
Pro-Israel activists join genocide scholars group, highlighting open entry for non-experts
A number of pro-Israel activists say they joined the group, while others appear to prank the association. “Adolf Hitler” is listed as an inactive member of the group. Other accounts sign up as Star Wars characters.

One of the pro-Israel commentators who joined the association, Elliot Malin, is actually a legal expert, but says the association revoked his membership without explanation.

Malin is an attorney and the chairperson of the Nevada Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust.

Pro-Palestinian activists were already members of the group. Nidal Jboor, the founder of the activist group Doctors Against Genocide, is one example.

Jboor is a member of the association who, over the weekend, said the anti-Israel movement needed to “take out” and “neutralize” its “child murderer” opponents at an anti-Israel activist conference.

Before the Israel genocide vote, the association had around 500 members, but only 129 voted on the resolution.

After the vote passed, a member of the association, Sara Brown, said the association had initially been made up of scholars, but had opened its membership to non-experts, including activists.


IDF intercepts second Houthi missile of the day after earlier downing cluster bomb
The Israeli military said it intercepted a second missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Wednesday evening.

The missile triggered sirens in the Jerusalem area and parts of the southern West Bank, shortly before 7:30 p.m. It followed a morning launch that triggered sirens in central Israel, which was also intercepted.

There were no injuries reported in either incident.

The military later revealed that missile intercepted in the morning carried a cluster bomb warhead. A similar incident was recorded on August 24, when an Israeli Air Force investigation determined the Iran-backed Houthis had, for the first time, used a ballistic missile with a cluster bomb warhead.

In that attack, one of the munitions struck the yard of a home in the central community of Ginaton, causing light damage. The military said the failure to intercept that missile was unrelated to the type of warhead it carried.

Wednesday’s launches came as the group continued its wave of missile and drone launches over the past week, after Israeli airstrikes killed the Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi and several members of his cabinet.
Two terrorists killed in Southern Lebanon, reports Israel
The Israeli Air Force on Wednesday killed two terrorists and struck a facility in Lebanon whose activity violated the terms of the ceasefire between Israel and the Shi’ite terrorist group, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

The terrorists were killed within the space of two hours, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said, in separate aerial strikes guided by the 91st Division. The IDF identified one slain terrorist as Abd al-Manaam Musa Suwaydan, a Hezbollah operative in the Yatar municipality in Southern Lebanon.

His role included liaising for Hezbollah with the Yatar villagers on financial and military issues, the statement said, adding: “The terrorist acted to take over private properties for terror purposes, such as renting houses for storing combat equipment and surveillance.”

In parallel, “guided by the 210th Division, the IDF struck and eliminated a terrorist who operated in the Lebanese Brigades terror organization, led by Hezbollah,” the statement said. It did not name that terrorist.

The elimination of the terrorists followed an earlier airstrike on a Hezbollah facility on Wednesday.

That strike was on a site “for producing means that assist in rehabilitating the Hezbollah terror organization and advancing terror plots,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said. That activity “constitutes a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”


IDF kills head of Mujahideen terror group in Gaza, which held Bibas family hostage
The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) have killed Musbah Salim Musbah Dayyah, head of the Mujahideen terrorist group that held the Bibas family, the IDF reported Wednesday.

Dayyah was responsible for terrorist attacks in Gaza and the West Bank, the IDF said. He was the fourth Mujahideen leader in Gaza to be eliminated over the past few months, it added.

Mujahideen terrorists took “a significant part in the brutal October 7 massacre,” including abduction and murder, the IDF said.

Dayyah was operating in the Nuseirat refugee camp area in the central Gaza Strip.

Kataib al-Mujahideen (Holy Warriors Brigades), the so-called armed wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, invaded Israel during the October 7 massacre. It was responsible for the abduction and murder of Shiri Bibas and her children, Kfir and Ariel, as well as the killing of Israeli-American-Canadian couple Judith Weinstein Haggai and Gad Haggai and Thai workers.


Shin Bet says it busted Hamas plot to assassinate Ben Gvir
The Shin Bet thwarted a plot by a Hamas cell in the West Bank to assassinate National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the security agency announced Wednesday.

The would-be assassins sought to kill the minister with explosive-laden drones. They were arrested in the West Bank by security forces several weeks ago.

According to the Shin Bet, the suspects are operatives in a Hebron-based Hamas cell that acted under the command of the terror group’s headquarters in Turkey.

They allegedly purchased several drones in order to attach explosives to them. The drones were seized upon the operatives’ arrest, the Shin Bet said, adding that its investigation into the terror cell was ongoing.

Following the revelation of the plot, Ben Gvir thanked the Shin Bet, police and other agencies for working to protect him.

“I will not be deterred and I will not be afraid! Hamas has already tried to eliminate me five times, and each time they failed — this time too,” the far-right minister said in a video statement.

He praised God and thanked security forces for their efforts, vowing to “continue to lead a hardline policy in Israel’s prisons against terror, demand a complete victory in Gaza, and the erasure of Hamas.

“The terrorists must know: instead of them harming us — we will harm them, everywhere and at any time,” Ben Gvir declared.


Up to 80,000 Palestinians have already left Gaza City, says Israeli security source
An Israeli security source told Hebrew media on Wednesday that up to 80,000 Palestinians have already left Gaza City in anticipation of the Israel Defense Forces operation to capture the Hamas stronghold.

The mass evacuation southwards comes despite the fact that the IDF has yet to announce the start of the operation, the source told Ynet, Israel National News, Haaretz and other outlets.

Most evacuated over the past 72 hours, according to the reports.

Hamas is using “various measures” to limit movement, the source said, adding that the “humanitarian infrastructure in the south is prepared and scaled for the population in accordance with international law.”

The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories unit said on Wednesday that “steps have been taken to adjust the humanitarian response, as part of the preparations to receive the population in the southern part of the Gaza Strip for their protection.

“Accordingly, the entry of food, medical equipment, and shelter supplies has been increased. In addition, steps have been taken regarding water supply and medical response in the southern Gaza Strip,” said COGAT.

Meanwhile, the IDF published a recorded conversation between a COGAT officer and a resident of Gaza City who accused Hamas terrorists of seeking to prevent the evacuation of Palestinians.

“We want to leave, but they’re waiting for us on the way,” the Palestinian tells COGAT, subsequently clarifying that he meant Hamas terrorists.

“They tell us: there is no evacuation, go back home,” he told COGAT. “Some people are going through side streets, finding alternative ways.

“They [Hamas members] are standing on the seashore, near al-Nabulsi and other places, standing there and sending people to go out [south] through the destroyed houses instead of the main roads,” he stated.


Trump Says It's Time - Israel is Gearing Up For The Final Showdown in Gaza City
In this episode, we cover a wave of developments signaling that the war is entering its final stage. The U.S. State Department has revoked visas connected to the Palestinian Authority, while Mahmoud Abbas continues to push his political line even as his credibility weakens. At the same time, Trump has told Israel that the moment has come to deliver the last blow, and Netanyahu has issued direct orders to the IDF to prepare for the decisive battle in Gaza City. With international pressure mounting, internal politics shifting, and Israel openly gearing up for the endgame against Hamas, the stakes have never been higher.


CENSORED! “The World DOESN’T Hate Israel, What The Media Will Never Show You”

Ep. 9: Ambassador Leiter - Democrats, Republicans, and the Future of U.S.-Israel Relations
In this episode, Lahav and Asher speak with Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Yechiel Leiter, about his efforts to engage both Democrats and Republicans, the future of U.S.-Israel cooperation, and the deep civilizational struggle shaping the Middle East. He explains why France’s and other European countries’ intent to recognize a Palestinian state would be destabilizing and destructive for the region, and discusses ongoing planning for the future of Gaza without Hamas.

Ambassador Leiter also shares deeply personal reflections on how he draws strength and inspiration from the memory of his son, Major Moshe Leiter—a father of six, physician, and elite IDF officer—who fell while leading troops into battle in Gaza on November 10, 2023.

In the opening segment, Lahav and Asher examine the dramatic challenges and dilemmas facing Israel this September in Gaza and at the UN, the consequences of renewed sanctions on Iran following the activation of the Snapback mechanism, and the upcoming five-year anniversary of the Abraham Accords.


Hugh Hewitt: Michael Oren explains why Israel ought to expel the Belgian ambassador to Israel. Immediately.

Hugh Hewitt: What should the IDF do in Gaza? Commentary editor John Podhoretz joins Hugh to explain

Sen. Tom Cotton Flags FBI on 'Dangerous' Activities of the Palestinian Youth Movement
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) is flagging the FBI on what he describes as the “dangerous” and “almost certainly illegal” activities of the controversial Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Breitbart News first learned exclusively.

In a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel dated September 3, Cotton asked the federal agency “to conduct a full investigation” into the PYM, deeming it a “threat” to U.S. national security.

Cotton specifically pointed to remarks PYM leader Aisha Nizar made at the People’s Conference for Palestine in Michigan, where she, per the letter, “openly called on supporters to disrupt the U.S. F-35 supply chain.”

Cotton added that this was part of Nizar’s call to “damage U.S. military support to Israel in their lawful war against Hamas.”

Cotton quoted her words: “If one specific node of the F-35 supply chain is intervened in, it has a huge impact.” He added that Nizar also said, “We need to be surgical. We need to be strategic…Because there are many different points of these supply chains of death that we can intervene in and we must intervene in.”

The senator reminded Patel that this is not the first time he has raised concerns about PYM specifically and their “antisemitic activities, along with their likely illegal receipt of tax exempt donations.” The organization, he continued, is filled with “bad actors, like Nizar who was arrested and charged for her role in the 2024 Gaza war protests that trapped motorists on the Golden Gate Bridge.”
10 Appalling Moments at the People’s Conference for Palestine 2025
Key Takeaways:
The People’s Conference for Palestine gives terrorists and terror sympathizers a platform to speak.
Speakers called for the “fall of the world order,” sympathized with Hamas, normalized intifadas using a positive connotation and not addressing their violence, demonized the Western world, and more.
There was a children’s program during the conference which included a “curriculum” on Palestinian “resistance.”
Local newspaper, The Detroit News, covered the event without asking questions, despite anti-American and violent rhetoric on display.

For the second year in a row, the People’s Conference for Palestine (PCP), which took place in Detroit, Michigan, attracted some of the biggest names in the pro-Palestinian community (and pro-Hamas, for that matter). These included antisemitic veteran activist Linda Sarsour, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)’s Hatem Bazian, and propped-up pro-Hamas activist Mahmoud Khalil, among others.

The conference was filled with panelists and keynote speakers who expressed anti-Western sentiments, spoke about “intifada” as if it were an acceptable form of protest, called for an end to Zionism, and more. The language was militarized, negative, and sought to encourage “liberation” through violence and anger.

Some of the speakers are terrorists, some terror sympathizers, and many regurgitated Hamas propaganda to thousands of people, including children, attending the conference.

This was not an event that promoted peace and equality between Israel and the Palestinians, but one that incited hatred and encouraged violence.

Here are ten moments Honestreporting has chosen to highlight as the worst of the PCP:


Jewish National Fund: IsraelCast | Shabbos Kestenbaum



Protest group claims 1,000 people will flout Palestine Action ban this weekend
Activists opposing the proscription of Palestine Action intend to hold another mass event expressing backing for the terrorist group, with more than 1,000 people expected to risk arrest this weekend by holding up signs showing their support for the recently banned organisation.

Defend our Juries, an organisation which describes itself as “defend[ing] the right to a fair trial” and campaigns against judges “preventing juries from fulfilling their proper role”, has been at the forefront of a campaign to lift the ban on Palestine Action. Senior senior Defend our Juries members were arrested in the early hours of Tuesday morning, ahead of a planned event where the group was due to announce a static protest on Saturday 6 September in Parliament Square. At a protest last month organised by the group, more than 500 people were arrested after holding up signs which expressed support for Palestine Action. Defend Our Juries claims that more than 1,000 people have signed up to express similar support at this Saturday’s event. Key opponents of the ban on Palestine Action include the prominent Irish author Sally Rooney, who has previously publicly expressed her support for the banned group, although she has not risked arrest by doing so in the UK.

Palestine Action, which was created in 2020, carried out wide-ranging attacks on locations and organisations which were deemed to be connected to Israel. This included attacks on defence organisations and factories, but also included sites in the Jewish community, including a number of Jewish charities with links to Israel, as well the targeting of a business in the heart of the Jewish community in Stamford Hill which was accused of letting out a property to an Israeli defence firm. Jewish communal organisations had been calling for the proscription of Palestine Action for some time, but the Home Secretary finally moved to proscribe the group in July, after footage was posted of group members infiltrating the UK’s largest air force base and damaging military planes.

A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries described the arrest of its key spokespeople as “scandalous”, “an unprecedented assault on free speech”, and “political repression”. They confirmed their intention to try and overwhelm the police with strength of numbers, saying “A law so blatantly unjust and facing such widespread opposition across the political spectrum, is impossible to enforce and the government will be forced to abandon it.”

The Metropolitan police has consistently made it clear that it is prepared carry out the arrests of all those who choose to break the law in this fashion.
Greta's flotilla faces storms, drone surveillance on mission against Gaza blockade
Organizers and participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla claimed that drones flew over their vessels and surveyed them on Tuesday night as they sailed to attempt to break the Israeli blockade around Gaza.

Sumud committee organizer Yasemin Acar said in an Instagram video that around 90 nautical miles from the Island of Menorca, they “detected the first drones.” Each vessel in the flotilla had a drone flying above them, according to Acar’s assessment, surveilling the group of ships that had embarked from Barcelona on Monday after poor weather conditions forced the mission to turn back from their initial launch on Sunday. Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila called for accountability against those who were surveilling the “humanitarian mission” and questioned how much funding was invested into such an operation.

In a June blockade run, climate activist Greta Thunberg panicked when her ship, the Madleen, was approached by Greek Coast Guard drones, and in May, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition claimed that one of their vessels was attacked by a drone off the shores of Malta.

Climate doesn't help Thunberg's flotilla
The flotilla of dozens of ships has faced difficulties beyond its initial embarking from Barcelona. Crew members complained of rough waters through Monday night and a storm that knocked out communications between the ships. The Sumud Flotilla said in a Tuesday statement that five of their smaller ships had to turn back to port on Monday night.

“When small civilian vessels must do the work that governments have failed to do, sailing to break the siege and end the genocide, challenges like these are common,” said the organization. “If even one of the complicit governments sent their far more capable ships to Gaza, these obstacles would not fall on ordinary people.”

Acar said in a Tuesday Instagram video that “the sea is finally aligning with us. The waters are calmer now, but not our resolve.”




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