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Wednesday, September 10, 2025

09/10 Links Pt1: The pathological chutzpah of Israel’s critics; Hamas Turns Hospitals into Military Assets with NGO Compliance; Israel Shatters Qatar’s Politics of Ambiguity

From Ian:

Brendan O'Neill: The pathological chutzpah of Israel’s critics
Israel’s strike on the Hamas leaders holed up in Doha really has exposed the pathological chutzpah, the cavernous gall, of its preening critics in the West. No sooner had it fired its missiles at the assembled militants than a chorus of condemnation was ringing out in the West’s corridors of power and our haughty media. This was a ‘flagrant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty’, yelped useless Keir Starmer. Oh, so Mr Second Referendum, that implacable old foe of Brexit, suddenly gives a shit about sovereignty? Good to know.

To be clear, Israel’s whack on Doha is a striking development. This is the first time Israel has fired at a Western-backed Gulf state. Qatar had long considered itself immune to the Middle East’s waves of violence, not least because it is close to mighty America and home to Al Udeid, the largest US airbase in the Middle East. It seems Britain had no advance warning of Israel’s attack but America did, and apparently America is not best pleased. Trump reportedly feels ‘very badly’ about it. And it’s unclear if the strike was a success: Hamas says five of its members were killed but its leaders survived.

So this is a comment-worthy event, for sure. It hints at strains in the US-Israel alliance, though my feeling is that this is overstated. It speaks to a renewed military bravado – muppets on X call it ‘recklessness’ – within the Jewish State. It is possible, says Jake Wallis Simons, that Israel is indicating to the world that it has fully embraced the policy of deterrence and rejected that ‘nexus of cowardice, confusion and complacency’ that the lost West stews in. So let’s talk about Doha. Let’s have some analysis. But having centrist dullards and grey-faced PMs and Israelophobic loons on X damn Israel’s actions as mad and criminal? Nope. That reeks to the high heavens of cant and even bigotry.

The depiction of Qatar as a poor little victim of the Zionist monster is preposterous beyond description. Qatar hosts the leaders of the army of anti-Semites that savagely attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. It’s been hosting Hamas for 10 years. That is an innately hostile act. There are untold instances in history of nations going to war with those who harbour their enemies, from Cromwell’s invasion of Ireland for hosting his Royalist opponents in the English Civil War to America’s own invasion of Afghanistan for providing sanctuary to al-Qaeda. For Israel to fire missiles at the nation in which its murderous foes live it up in five-star luxury is not a war crime – it’s war; perfectly normal war.

Let’s get real: Qatar has given haven to the architects and justifiers of the worst mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. This includes Khalil al-Hayya, the de facto leader of Hamas who crowed that 7 October was ‘a great day’. It has also included Ghazi Hamad, who chillingly said of 7 October: ‘We will do this again… there will be a second, a third, a fourth.’ What’s ‘criminal’ is not Israel’s firing of missiles at Qatar but Qatar’s provision of luxuriant refuge to men promising further massacres of Jews. The question is not how Israel can attack a Western ally – it’s why the West is allied in the first place with a state that happily harbours a racist militia founded with the express intention of annihilating the Jewish State.

The fallout from the Doha strike shines a light on the great moral divide that lurks within the Israel Question. On one side, sheepish Westerners who think nothing is worth a war; on the other, Jewish soldiers determined to finish the war against their anti-Semitic tormentors once and for all. Over here, privileged windbags who’ve never faced an existential threat essentially saying ‘Lay down your arms, Israel’ – over there, Israel essentially saying ‘Screw you’. That’s what Doha speaks to: that Israel now cares as little for the opinion of its pompous haters in the West as it does for the lives of the terrorists who want to destroy it. Though who knows, maybe it will change its mind when it hears that emergency podcast.
'Evidence of Complicity is Blatant': Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders Operated Alongside Terrorists in Gazan Hospitals, Internal Hamas Messages Show
Newly released internal Hamas communications show how the terror group allowed several humanitarian organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Doctors Without Borders, to set up shop in the same medical facilities Hamas fighters used as command centers. Those groups have condemned Israeli operations on Gazan hospitals without acknowledging that Hamas terrorists operate within them.

The ICRC "has chosen [to operate] in a wing inside Al-Shifa Hospital that is adjacent to the movement’s offices," Hamas’ Ministry of Interior and National Security disclosed in highly sensitive internal communications in 2020. Doctors Without Borders, meanwhile, "chose the only room in Abu Yousef El-Najar Hospital that has a [safe] communication landline," Hamas leaders wrote in Arabic-language documents recently declassified by Israel and published in English for the first time on Wednesday by the NGO Monitor watchdog group.

Doctors Without Borders’ French affiliate used a hospital facility belonging to "the positive’s activity," Hamas noted in a reference to its Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. The communications identify at least 17 other international NGOs—including the World Health Organization, several Doctors Without Borders affiliates, and the Norwegian Aid Committee—as working in various Gaza medical installations under Hamas’s authority.

While supporters of Israel have long known that Hamas-run hospitals are, for all intents and purposes, terrorist command centers, the ICRC and Doctors Without Borders have refused to admit that is the case, even as they work within those very buildings.

The ICRC, for instance, has written that strikes on hospitals "cause death and destruction and jeopardize vital lifelines for patients who have few sanctuaries left," adding in several statements that medical facilities in combat zones "must be respected and protected," without noting that those medical facilities also serve as terrorist headquarters.

Doctors Without Borders, for its part, issued a report accusing Israel of "dismantling" Gaza’s health care infrastructure and condemning the Jewish state over its "violent incursions in health facilities." Much like the ICRC, Doctors Without Borders did not acknowledge why Israel might want to conduct military operations in Hamas-controlled buildings.

For NGO Monitor president Gerald Steinberg, it is difficult to believe the nonprofit groups were unaware of Hamas’s use of medical facilities, even as many of them publicly criticized Israel for targeting the very civilian outposts in which the terror group embeds itself. Hamas makes clear in the documents that it exerts near-total control over Gaza’s humanitarian infrastructure and can choose who it allows to operate in the region.

"The evidence of complicity is blatant," Steinberg said in a statement. "This document exposes the hypocrisy of supposedly humanitarian international organizations like the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and the Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC). While repeatedly echoing Hamas allegations and condemning Israel’s operations to end the exploitation of hospitals for terror, these groups clearly knew that Hamas exploited these facilities, and chose to remain silent."
NGO Monitor: In Their Own Words: Hamas Turns Hospitals into Military Assets with NGO Compliance
Summary
For years, claims that Hamas used hospitals to shield its leadership and fighters have been met by skepticism and disregarded by the international community and media. Newly-revealed internal Hamas documents prove that the terror group’s exploitation of medical facilities in Gaza has been systematic.

Hamas ministry documents, dated February and March 2020, detail Hamas’ strategy of embedding its military infrastructure, fighters, and leadership within hospitals and medical facilities in Gaza, blatantly violating international law and endangering civilian lives. As with all such installations and services in Gaza, Hamas cynically exploits the healthcare system to provide cover for and expand its terror operations.

Hamas explicitly states that health facilities in Gaza are not neutral spaces, but instead play a critical role in Hamas’ terror network. Hamas officials expressed alarm at the prospect of “hostile parties” gathering intelligence on medical facilities, since these “serve as places that the wounded” – who “hold sensitive positions in the resistance” (emphasis added) – “are gathered in during times of escalation.” In addition, they described medical facilities as places of “gathering for many commanders of the movement [i.e. Hamas] and the government in times of escalation”.

Hamas also deliberately maintains a physical presence within hospital buildings. For example, Hamas officials note that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) “has chosen [to operate] in a wing inside Al-Shifa Hospital that is adjacent to the [Hamas] movement’s offices”.

Despite being aware of Hamas’ control and exploitation of medical spaces, NGOs and UN agencies with a medical and humanitarian focus continued to operate under Hamas-imposed restrictions. They accepted Hamas’s surveillance, movement limitations, vetting of their teams, and were exposed to pressures and directives from Hamas security personnel.

The NGOs also refuse to publicly admit their knowledge of Hamas’ use of medical spaces for military purposes, while simultaneously and hypocritically condemning Israeli attacks on terror targets in the vicinity of hospitals and medical centers. This selective reporting distorts reality, prevents the international community from obtaining reliable information from the field, encourages terror groups to continue exploiting areas that ought to be neutral, undermines humanitarian efforts in Gaza, and contributes to the demonization of Israel.


Jay Solomon: Hamas Thought Qatar Was Safe. Israel Proved Otherwise
For more than a decade, Qatar has played one of the Middle East’s most dangerous games of double-dealing: hosting both the U.S.’s largest regional military base and also the political headquarters of Hamas. On Tuesday, the sheikhdom’s ruling Al Thani family ran out of luck.

Israeli warplanes struck the offices of Hamas’s Shura Council in downtown Doha, Qatar’s capital, in a bid to assassinate leaders accused of being involved in the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and other terrorist strikes. President Donald Trump learned about the impending operation from the American military, but didn’t warn Israel off from the attack, U.S. officials said. Instead, he notified Qatar’s ruling emir and prime minister after the strike began.

Trump publicly directed his “last warning” to Hamas on Sunday, saying that it must accept a U.S.-backed offer to end its war with Israel in the Gaza Strip and return Israeli and American hostages held there, or face unspecified reprisals.

U.S. officials told The Free Press that Hamas has offered few signals that it would sign on to the Trump-backed ceasefire deal, and appeared to thumb its nose at the White House by claiming responsibility for a Palestinian terrorist attack in Jerusalem on Sunday that left at least six Israelis dead.

Israel Strikes Hamas in Qatar. What Comes Next?
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt sought to maintain distance between the U.S. and Israel after the attack, stressing that there was no American military or intelligence involved in the operation and that Qatar remained a critical American ally. But she still signaled that Trump approved of it.

“The president views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the United States, and feels very badly about the location of this attack,” she said at a press briefing on Tuesday. “After the attack, the prime minister [of Israel] told President Trump that he wants to make peace and quickly. President Trump believes this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for peace.”

Some U.S. officials drew parallels between Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar Tuesday and its June attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. In both cases, Trump had put in place diplomatic deadlines that ultimately neither Hamas nor the Iranian government appeared willing to respect. With Iran, Trump followed up by launching his own strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites.

“Why is everyone surprised when [the president] responds to people trying to pull shit on him?” a Trump administration official working on the Middle East told The Free Press, referencing Trump’s tacit support for the Israeli operation in Qatar.


Israel Is Remaking the Map By Abe Greenwald
Via Commentary Newsletter sign up here. It’s becoming clear that Israel is in the process of creating a new world. In the pre–October 7 world, legitimate governments let terrorists kill a little, then hide a little, negotiate a little, and kill a little more. And Israel was expected to play along. In the world being born, Israel kills terrorists, wherever they are and at whatever point in their cycle. This is to be a world of greater moral coherence, swifter justice, and more enduring security.

In short, it’s a saner, more civilized world. Which means the unstable populations of the West can’t bear to watch it take shape. Too bad.

You can wrap yourself in a keffiyeh and chant Hamas slogans from freshman year until you’re eligible for Social Security. But Hamas, that entity that Israel supposedly couldn’t destroy, is all but destroyed. Hezbollah is on its way out, the Houthis are under attack, Iran is under rubble, Assad’s Syria is history, and Qatar is out of the terrorist-resort business.

You can board flotillas, declare phantom states, boycott companies, publish blood libels and propaganda images, blackball artists, re-litigate the entire history of the 20th century, and even attack Jews on the street. But none of it will stop the proud men and women of Israel from ridding the world of your terrorist heroes. None of it will defeat the Jews or extinguish the enduring flame of Zionism.

And if you couldn’t accept the long-established fact of a Jewish state, you’re really going to hate what comes next. Instead of Israel being “erased from the map,” as Iran’s leaders have long promised, Israel is redrawing the map and erasing its enemies as it goes along. It’s toppling the Iranian imperium, reestablishing Lebanese sovereignty, laying the ground for a potentially stable Gaza, ensuring the Druze’s place in Syria, and more.

I could note here that, in taking out its enemies, Israel is also taking out enemies of the United States. But that’s an argument in defense of Israel’s actions, and I no longer feel compelled to defend Israel for anything it’s done since October 7, 2023. If you find yourself defending the very idea of Israel’s survival, you’re wasting precious breath on a weak mind or a wicked heart. The first cannot be made to understand righteous force, and the second understands but abhors it. You’re having an argument that doesn’t matter.
Hussein Aboubakr Mansour: Israel Shatters Qatar’s Politics of Ambiguity
For Qatar, the implications are existential. Its ruling family built foreign policy on the belief that ambiguity would always be tolerated. That assumption has now been broken twice in the same year, first by Iran and now, much more drastically, by Israel. Even so, Iran’s earlier strike on American targets was symbolic, absorbed into the long-standing cycle of hostility between Washington and Tehran, and could be spun by Al Jazeera for its Islamist and leftist audiences. Israel’s action was categorically different: It tried to assassinate Qatar-protected Hamas leaders in Doha itself, puncturing Qatar’s promise of sanctuary and exposing the contradiction on which its entire role in the system depended.

Doha’s indispensability rested on two pillars: providing sanctuary for Islamist actors and serving as a mediator acceptable to both radicals and the West. Both have been compromised. Hamas leaders were struck in the heart of the capital, and Qatar was unable to protect them. It is no longer clear that Doha can convene negotiations without appearing vulnerable, or that Washington will shield it from retaliation.

This forces choices Qatar has long avoided. It can move decisively toward alignment with the United States and Israel, scaling back its sponsorship of Islamists and attempting to reinvent itself as a conventional Gulf partner, alienating the networks it has built through media and educational patronage. Or it can double down, presenting itself as the victim of external violation and clinging to its Islamist ties—a path that risks isolation and exposure. Neither preserves the delicate balance that previously defined its strategy.

Speculation that Qatar may have quietly allowed the strike is implausible. Doha’s entire power has rested on the credibility of sanctuary. For Islamist actors, from Hamas to the Brotherhood, Qatar’s value lay in its guarantee of protection, and once that is compromised there is no reason for them to trust it again.

Its role as mediator likewise depends on the belief that it can provide cover and confidentiality; complicity in an Israeli assassination would destroy that credibility overnight. The suspicion of betrayal would be much, much worse than the public humiliation of being bombed by Israel. The emirate has also spent decades branding itself as a secure oasis for global capital, tourism, sports, and education. To be seen as a war zone would undercut the very image it has sold to the West.

Israel Strikes Hamas in Qatar. What Comes Next?
Domestically, the ruling family’s legitimacy depends on projecting itself as defender of the ummah against “Zionist aggression.” At most, Doha may attempt to spin the strike after the fact, but even pretending to have given Israel advance approval would undermine its image and power.

The broader system is also exposed. For decades, Qatar’s role and the irresolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict were treated as permanent fixtures. They appeared to serve everyone’s interests: Doha gained leverage, the United States preserved channels, Islamists secured patronage, and Israel tolerated the arrangement so long as Hamas could be contained.

October 7 shattered that premise. The scale of Hamas’s crimes crossed a threshold Israel could not accept, sparking an international effort to restrain Jerusalem and preserve the system. Yet Washington ultimately backed Israel, especially under Trump, and in doing so revealed the limits of managed incoherence.

What seemed like a durable equilibrium was in fact a contingent design, sustainable only so long as contradictions remained manageable. Once they became intolerable—once Hamas’s presence in Qatar was judged no longer useful—the arrangement collapsed.

The same logic applies to the wider conflict. What has long been presented as insoluble but stable may, under new strategic preferences in Washington and Jerusalem, become subject to revision rather than endless maintenance. Under Trump especially, the American role could be shifting from endless management to the pursuit of outcomes, even if those outcomes fracture the very system Washington once labored to preserve.
Seth Frantzman: Thirty years of Hamas privilege ends in Doha
Significantly, Hamas’s leadership gathered together to celebrate on October 7 in Doha. None of them were shocked by the attack, even though some commentators have claimed that the Doha leaders were unaware of what Sinwar was planning in Gaza.

But there is no evidence to suggest that the Hamas officials in Qatar were, by any means, surprised. On the contrary, they cheered and called on more countries and groups to join the attack on Israel.

Hamas members, such as the aforementioned Ghazi Hamad, who were portrayed over the years as being open to negotiations with Israel due to their role in the Gilad Schalit deal, had called instead for more October 7-like attacks.

After the October 7 massacre, Hamas assumed that its friends in Doha and Ankara could get the US to pressure Israel into a ceasefire. It then thought that a hostage deal would be struck, and that it would gain influence in the West Bank in an insulting manner.

The terrorist organization calculated that it could leverage this toward a technocratic Palestinian Authority government when Mahmoud Abbas steps aside or dies. Then, it assumed it would take over the West Bank while maintaining control of Gaza.

It is believed that it could also get some tacit support from Egypt and other states. Egypt had opposed the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.

However, after Cairo reconciled with Turkey, it appears that it decided to turn the other way in terms of Hamas plots in exchange for Turkey and Qatar stopping their critique of the government in Egypt.

Ankara had backed Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s leader in Egypt, in 2012. However, after Morsi died in 2019, Ankara could move on.

All in all, over the years, Hamas has enjoyed the privilege of massacring Israelis and getting away with it. Its leaders in Doha assumed that they could come to power the way the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan.

Doha had also hosted the Taliban. Still, even as other Hamas leaders were getting killed, Hamas in Qatar did not heed the warnings of US President Donald Trump. It assumed that its luck would never run out.

On September 9, a day to be remembered for bringing justice to the October 7 victims, some of those Hamas leaders appear to have run out of decades of privilege.
Arsen Ostrovsky: International law supports Israel’s strikes on terrorists
Distinction requires that military force be directed only against combatants and military objectives. Hamas’s leaders, whether in Gaza or the ones targeted in Doha, are not neutral civilians; they are the architects of terror and the ongoing war. Their luxury suites in Doha functioned not merely as residences, but command centres, making them lawful military targets.

Meanwhile, proportionality prohibits attacks expected to cause excessive civilian harm compared to the concrete military advantage gained. By striking Hamas leaders with precision, Israel removed the masterminds of October 7, while avoiding widespread civilian casualties.

Israel was also left with no alternative. Only early this week, the United States put forward to the most comprehensive proposal to end this war once and for all, and release all the hostages, with President Trump calling on Hamas to accept the plan, cautioning “This is my last warning, there will not be another one!”

Like clockwork, Hamas rejected the deal, refusing to accept any terms that would require them to disarm. It should come therefore as absolutely no surprise that Israel carried out the strike in Doha. Faced with an enemy that refuses to end the war and release the hostages, Israel had no choice but to strike them militarily.

But many in the West have rushed to the defence of Doha. Qatar is no Mother Theresa here. They have continued to play the duplicitous role of both pyromaniac and firefighter, trying to fool the world.

Under the Hague Convention V of 1907, neutral states must not permit belligerents (or terrorists) to use their territory as a base of operations, but Qatar has done precisely the opposite. For years, Doha has perfected a cynical double game. On the one hand, it hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East and postures as an honest mediator in hostage talks. On the other, it grants sanctuary to Hamas leaders, peddles propaganda through Al Jazeera and allows its territory to be used to plan attacks against Israel and the ongoing captivity of the remaining 48 hostages in the dungeons of Gaza.

Its delay tactics in the hostage negotiations have not been about saving lives, but an entirely self-serving attempt to buy leverage and polish its own image in the West. Therefore, by failing to uphold its duties as a supposed neutral party, Qatar has allowed its territory to become complicit in Hamas’s war against Israel.

Critics of Israel argue that operations like the Doha strike undermine international order. However, the opposite is true. What undermines the rule of law is the selective application of its principles: applauding US self-defence while denying it to Israel.

Western governments that once celebrated the killing of bin Laden should reflect on their hypocrisy and direct their outrage not at Israel for striking the masterminds of Oct 7, but at Qatar for providing them safe harbour enabling them to operate from their territory.
No immunity for Israel’s enemies
Turning a blind eye to the architects of death gives them the chance to repeat massacres. The blood spilled that day was not limited to Israelis; its effects fueled the entire region’s spiral into chaos and instability. This confirms that Israel’s logic in pursuing terrorist leaders is not merely an emotional reaction but a firm conviction. Leaving the snake’s head alive ensures the venom will be produced anew.

Real deterrence can only be achieved through a strict policy that makes every terrorist leader feel sentenced to death, however long it takes or however far they may run.

This leads to a deeper dimension. Israel does not see these operations as mere reactions to attacks but as part of its long-term national security doctrine. This harsh policy reflects how Israel rightfully sees itself: a nation surrounded by perils, living amidst a sea of security, military, and ideological threats. Therefore, its persistence in assassination is not a luxury but an integral part of protecting its existence.

Simply put, as long as terrorism raises its head, the Israeli response will remain ready. As Osama Hamdan, a Hamas leader, once said, “The battlefield is the judge.” So far, the field has been settled in favor of the long arm that does not hesitate to strike.

Despite the clarity of this approach, some still doubt its effectiveness. History, however, proves otherwise. Removing leaders creates a vacuum, disrupts ranks, and sows fear in the hearts of those who remain. The real message is not in the number of corpses but in shattering any sense of security, even for those hiding behind palaces in regional capitals. The sword remains raised. Though time may pass, the outcome is the same: no immunity for Israel’s enemies, wherever they are.

Despite the diplomatic complexities that accompany foreign operations, Israeli pragmatism never hesitates when weighed against national security. The country has proven ready to bear temporary political costs to remove a permanent strategic threat. This is what makes the assassination policy an essential, indispensable pillar.

Given the constant dangers facing its citizens, Israel will be compelled to maintain this approach and may even intensify it as threats mount. Security in this region is not a static equation but a daily struggle against an adaptive enemy that constantly seeks new loopholes.

The message the Israelis sends by continuing to assassinate terrorist leaders and their supporters is unmistakable. Deterrence is not achieved by statements or maneuvers but through decisive action that reminds everyone: the Israeli hand, however long it may take, is never paralyzed nor restrained.
NYPost Editorial: Hamas in Qatar was fair game — and Israel’s strike there can hasten an end to the Gaza war
Israel took a big step toward ending the war in Gaza with Tuesday’s strike on Hamas leadership in Qatar.

It wasn’t immediately clear if any top terror bosses met their maker, but the strike left no doubt for any who survived: Israel is coming for them.

If the hostages in Gaza aren’t returned and Hamas fighters don’t disarm, the terror kingpins’ days are numbered. No matter where they hide.

Early reports suggested Israel took out a leader or three, but Hamas denied any were among five people it said died.

Either way, the attack had huge value: Hamas’ chiefs thought they had safe refuge in Qatar — far from the fighting and squalor in Gaza.

They lived lives of luxury in five-star hotels, reportedly sitting on an $11 billion stash, even as Gaza civilians suffered.

They could turn down cease-fire deals with no fear of personal consequences, especially since Qatar is a US ally.

Now any who survived must know that fear.

“The days when the heads of terror enjoyed immunity anywhere are over,” warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hear, hear.
Getting Real About Hamas — and Qatar
We remember President Reagan’s public condemnation of Israel’s 1981 bombing of Iraq’s nuclear facility at Osirak, which was expressed at the United Nations by the American ambassador, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, a friend of Israel. Mr. Netanyahu, then a junior diplomat at Israel’s embassy at Washington, often says nevertheless that Pentagon officials burst out with cheers as details of the Osirak raid emerged. Is the same dynamic occurring now?

More importantly, is Mr. Trump reevaluating America’s enabling of an emirate that for too long has enabled our worst enemies? “For Hamas, Qatar is the hope, the resurrection, the future,” the Middle East Media Research Institution’s founder, Yigal Carmon, tells our Benny Avni. Memri has documented Qatar’s long time enabling of Islamist extremists, including its shielding of perpetrators of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Through its Arabic-language Al Jazeera broadcasts, Doha has instigated anti-Israel and anti-American violence even as it enjoys the benefits of hosting America’s most lucrative military base. It has bribed politicians, bought into our universities, backed opinion leaders, and enticed American diplomats with sweet talk of peace negotiations. Israel’s decision to end that charade might bode a much needed change of policy on an alliance with Qatar.

For now, Qatar says it is out of the Gaza mediation game. Not a moment too soon, we say. If an Arab mediator is needed, Egypt could fill that role. Cairo is at peace with Israel, and has ties in Gaza, but it is fighting the Muslim Brotherhood, which has spawned Hamas. Qatar failed at delivering on Mr. Trump’s hope of ending the war. Israel’s attack could end Hamas as a fighting or ruling force — much to Qatar’s chagrin.


Sa’ar accuses top EU exec of echoing Hamas terror propaganda
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday of echoing “false propaganda of Hamas and its partners” in her annual State of the Union address.

Von der Leyen’s remarks were “regrettable,” Sa’ar wrote in a Hebrew X post. “Once again, Europe conveys a mistaken message, one that strengthens Hamas and the radical axis in the Middle East.”

Sa’ar’s remarks came after Von der Leyen announced to E.U. lawmakers on Wednesday morning that Brussels’ executive would be putting all its bilateral payments to Israel “on hold” over the war against Hamas.

“What is happening in Gaza is unacceptable,” Von der Leyen told the European parliament in Strasbourg, accusing the Israeli military of orchestrating a “man-made famine” in the Gaza Strip.

“We will put out bilateral support to Israel on hold. We will stop all payments in these areas, without affecting our work with Israeli civil society or Yad Vashem,” she said, referring to Israel’s Holocaust museum.

She acknowledged that disagreements among the bloc’s 27 members had blocked more concrete action, including a proposal to suspend research funding, but added that “we must all take our own responsibility.”

For this reason, the European Commission “will do all that it can do on its own,” she said. Von der Leyen also said she would be putting forward a proposal to E.U foreign ministers to sanction “extremist ministers and violent settlers” and partially suspend the trade deal with Jerusalem.

According to Sa’ar, Von der Leyen “is well aware of Israel’s efforts, together with, among others, the European Union itself, to provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza.”

The president “is mistaken in yielding to pressure from elements seeking to undermine Israel–Europe relations,” the diplomat stated, saying that the measures “run contrary to the interests of Europe’s own states.”

“Above all: this is not the way partners treat one another,” he added.

“Anyone who truly seeks to end the war knows very well how to achieve it: the release of the hostages, the disarmament of Hamas and a new future for Gaza. Hurting Israel will not help—on the contrary. It only entrenches Hamas and Israel’s enemies in their obstinacy,” he said.


JPost Editorial: Through its response to Spain, Israel shows that antisemitism must have consequences
Pique is not policy, nor is diatribe diplomacy. Nevertheless, there are times when national honor demands an undiplomatic response to another country’s defamation.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar judged – rightfully, in our opinion – that Monday was precisely such a moment, after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez accused Israel of “exterminating a defenseless people” and committing “genocide.”

“Protecting your country and your society is one thing,” Sánchez declared, “but bombing hospitals and killing innocent boys and girls with hunger is another thing entirely.”

He coupled those remarks with sweeping measures: banning all arms imports and exports with Israel; prohibiting the use of Spanish ports and airspace to transport weapons or fuel to the IDF; and blocking the import of goods from Israeli settlements. He went further still, announcing that anyone “directly involved in the genocide” would be barred from Spain.

In recent months, Israel’s Foreign Ministry has shown a growing unwillingness to simply “turn the other cheek.” Sa’ar’s response to Sánchez was another illustration of that shift.

In a scathing statement, Sa’ar accused the Spanish government of pursuing a virulently anti-Israel and antisemitic line, driven by Sánchez’s political weakness and corruption scandals. He blasted Madrid’s “wild rhetoric dripping with hatred” and contrasted its obsessive activism against Israel with its coziness toward “dark tyrannical regimes” such as Iran and Venezuela.

Sa’ar also placed Spain’s behavior in historical perspective. He reminded the world of Spain’s past crimes against the Jewish people – from the Inquisition to forced conversions and finally to the “complete ethnic cleansing” of Jews in 1492. He noted that Spain was the last Western European country to establish diplomatic ties with Israel, not doing so until 1986.

Words were followed by deeds. Sa’ar announced sanctions against two virulently anti-Israel Spanish ministers and, more importantly, pledged to raise Spain’s rhetoric with Israel’s allies at the next plenary of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).


Isaac Herzog and Keir Starmer clash at Downing Street over Palestine plan
Keir Starmer and Isaac Herzog have clashed over the UK’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state later this month during a “frank and open” meeting at Downing Street.

The UK Prime Minister “firmly rejected” the Israeli president’s claim that the UK government was rewarding Hamas with a declaration of a Palestinian state that Herzog claimed “won’t bring peace.”

Israel’s president had arrived at Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon to be greeted by Starmer at the doors of No.10 just before 4.45pm. The pair shook hands, but there was none of the warm embraces reserved for other world leaders in recent months from Starmer.

Herzog failed to respond to questions from journalists about Israeli strikes in Qatar aimed at wiping out the Hamas leaders. The PM also ignored a question on whether the UK is “still a friend of Israel?”

Inside the meeting Herzog later admitted that “things that were said were tough and strong”, but Israel’s president insisted ” when allies meet they can argue”.

A UK government source also told Jewish News Wednesday afternoon’s meeting was a “frank and tense one” as the pair expressed different views around Israel’s conduct in Gaza, and had a “major difference of opinion” over Palestine recognition.

Herzog later admitted: “Keir Starmer reiterated that he believed Hamas is a terrorist organisation that must be removed.”

But he said Israel was being “punished” if the UK and other states move to Palestinian state recognition at the United Nations General Assembly on September 23rd.


Trends indicate many Hamas officials survived IDF's Qatar strike, results still in the air
As of Wednesday night, Israeli officials have yet to publicly provide clear indications of the state of the Hamas leaders in Qatar whom they tried to assassinate on Tuesday.

That said, it is possible that many of the targets survived.

If, in the early hours after the attack, The Jerusalem Post received optimistic, off-the-record signs that several Hamas leaders were indeed killed, by 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, those signs from the Israeli sources had switched to pessimism.

This is significant because, though Hamas – within a few hours of the attack – said that its leadership had survived, the terrorist group has been known to issue knee-jerk denials when its leaders, such as Yahya Sinwar or Mohammed Deif, were dead, admitting to the facts only months later.

By Wednesday night, the prevalent narrative in Arab media reports suggested that the top Hamas leaders had left their cell phones in one room while moving to another to pray, and thus survived the attack.

Then again, a whole day has gone by, and yet none of the Hamas leaders have appeared in any public format to prove that they are alive and well. Case in point, only one official, Husam Badran, has issued a public statement by press time.

Statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday notably left out any mention of whether the Hamas leaders were killed – a blatant omission which also implies that the IDF may not have successfully eliminated the officials.
Algeria legitimizing Hamas at UN council, Danon says
Algeria is legitimizing Hamas by calling for an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council, scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sept. 11, after Israel’s strike in Doha, according to the Israeli mission to the global body in New York.

Algeria represents the Arab states at the council.

“The Algerian ambassador chooses to cooperate with Hamas and provide them with legitimacy from within the Security Council,” stated Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations. “Israel will continue to act decisively against the leaders of terror wherever they are hiding and is committed to returning the hostages and maintaining security for our citizens.”

The session, originally set for 3 p.m. on Wednesday, was postponed following a request from the Prime Minister of Qatar to participate in the meeting.

“Israel’s action was not intended to target the State of Qatar,” Danon stated. “The goal was, and will remain, clear: to strike Hamas terrorists and those responsible for the massacres of Oct. 7.”

The ambassador added that “there will be no immunity for terrorists—not in Gaza, Lebanon or Qatar.”


Hillel Neuer vs. Qatar at the UN: “You Harbor Terrorists”
At the United Nations, after Iran, Turkey, Algeria, and Venezuela condemned Israel for striking Hamas leaders in Qatar, UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer took the floor.

His speech — interrupted by Pakistan — challenged Qatar directly:
🔹 “Why do you harbor Hamas leaders in your capital?”
🔹 “Why did you back Hamas’s Gaza coup in 2007?”
🔹 “Why have you funneled billions, fueling their terror wars against Israel?”
🔹 “Why did you absolve Hamas for the October 7 massacre?”
🔹 “Why does your state-owned Al Jazeera act as their propaganda arm?”


“When Israel captured Eichmann, rescued hostages at Entebbe, and destroyed Saddam’s reactor, the U.N. condemned Israel. Yet history vindicated Israel each time.”


Hillel Neuer on Sky News: Fabricated U.N.-Backed Report on “Famine” in Gaza Is a Complete Fraud
UN Watch Executive Director joined Chris Kenny on Sky News Australia to discuss the problems with the recent U.N.-backed report declaring a “famine” in Gaza.


Commentary Podcast: Israel's Righteous Qatar Attack
Another remarkable historical turn as Israel makes it clear to Hamas leaders outside Gaza that they are not safe from the war they decided to wage against the Jewish state—an example of how Israel is changing the rules of the game in the Middle East and, as Abe says, is "redrawing the map."


UKLFI: Natasha Hausdorff discusses Israel’s strike on Hamas in Doha on TalkTV
Natasha Hausdorff, UKLFI Charitable Trust Legal Director, discusses the ‎international law issues and the international response to Israel’s action with Ian Collins on Talk TV


FDD SITREP | IDF Strikes Senior Hamas Leadership in Doha
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted a targeted strike against senior Hamas operatives based in Doha, Qatar. Reported targets include longtime leaders Khaled Mashal, Muhammad Ismail Darwish, Khalil al-Hayya, Mousa Abu Marzook, and Zaher Jabarin. These men are directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis and Americans and have overseen Hamas’s global operations for decades, including serving as key architects of the October 7 massacre.

The strike highlights Hamas’s dependence on external safe havens — and the challenge Israel faces in confronting a terrorist organization whose leaders operate from luxury in Muslim Brotherhood-sponsoring states like Qatar while directing violence against civilians. Key questions remain: How effective was the strike? How might this bold action shape Israel’s security and war strategy? And what are the implications for U.S.-Israel relations, given Qatar’s status as a Major Non-NATO Ally and host of the largest American military base in the region?

FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer, Senior Advisor Richard Goldberg, and Jonathan Conricus, FDD senior fellow, will assess the implications for Israel’s counterterrorism campaign, regional security, and U.S. policy.


FDD Morning Brief | feat. Ambassador Edward Gabriel (Sep. 10)
HEADLINE 1: Qatar isn’t the only target for the Israel in the last 48 hours — Syria was hit, too.

HEADLINE 2: Israel ordered the full evacuation of Gaza City.

HEADLINE 3: Tensions are soaring between Israel and Spain.

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Ambassador Edward Gabriel, president and CEO of the American Task Force on Lebanon.


Call Me Back: Israel Strikes Hamas in Qatar - with Ronen Bergman, Nadav Eyal and Amit Segal
On Tuesday, the Israeli Airforce carried out strikes on a building in Doha, Qatar, where Hamas’s top leaders were believed to be gathered to discuss the recent American Gaza ceasefire proposal. As of now, it seems unlikely that Israel managed to eliminate its targets.

Qatar called the attack a “violation of all laws and norms.” Other Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, and Turkey strongly condemned the attack as well. President Trump gave somewhat contradictory statements on the topic, expressing disapproval at Israel’s decision while calling it an opportunity for peace.

Joining us to discuss how the strike and its possible results impacts Israel’s position in the Gaza war and the region, we were joined by Ark Media Contributors Nadav Eyal and Amit Segal and Call me Back Veteran Ronen Bergman.


Special Episode: Was Trump INVOLVED in Israel’s Qatar Strike? And Why.
In this special breaking-news episode 15 of The Erin Molan Show, Erin dives deep into Israel’s unprecedented strike on Hamas leaders inside Qatar — and asks the explosive question: What role did Donald Trump play?

The show opens with Trump’s first reaction caught on camera in Washington, Netanyahu’s powerful speech on the strike, and Caroline Leavitt’s statement from the White House podium.

Erin is then joined by two leading experts:
Daniel Rubenstein — Middle East analyst, former social media advisor to PM Netanyahu and communications advisor to then-PM Naftali Bennett. Jonathan Conricus — Former IDF spokesperson and current Senior Fellow at TDD.

Both arrive at similar stunning conclusions: The U.S. knew ahead of time — and perhaps even Qatar — and that much of the current political posturing is just cover, not the real story.

Erin closes the show with her trademark sharp wit, offering “condolences” to the grifters and Qatar-loving influencers who just can’t seem to get it right: Tucker Carlson, Dave Smith, Candace Owens, Macron, Starmer, Carney, and more.

⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 – Trump Reacts in D.C.
01:15 – Netanyahu’s Speech Adressing the attack
05:15 - WH Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt’s WH Statement
06:38 – Erin’s Take: The REAL Question Behind the Qatar Strike
09:11– Daniel Rubenstein: Why the U.S. Had to Know
15:00 – Jonathan Conricus: Beyond the Cover Story
27:33 – Erin’s Final Word: Condolences to the Grifters




Hamas Gaza City commander prepares for prolonged battle
The commander of the Hamas terror group’s Gaza City Brigade, Ezzedine al-Haddad, has ordered his fighters not to leave the city and to prepare for “a fierce battle that could last for months,” the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat news site reported Tuesday.

Considered the last remaining architect of the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre still alive in Gaza, al-Haddad is at the top of Israel’s most wanted list.

According to the internal message sent to the brigade’s field commanders and active members and seen by the Saudi outlet, al-Haddad wrote that he would be “the first fighter” and would be at the “front lines” during the upcoming battle, as Israeli forces prepare to enter the last Hamas terror stronghold. In the letter, he warned that all available terror forces and capabilities would be mobilized to deliver “severe blows” to Israeli forces, and stressed the need for fighters to remain in Gaza City.

According to the report, Hamas is coordinating its forces with Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terror factions, to join the battle in Gaza City. A similar letter to that of al-Haddad’s was reportedly sent by Hamas’s Northern Brigade commander, Mohammed Oudeh, urging Al-Qassam members who are residents of northern Gaza, as well as those displaced in Gaza City, to join the fight against the Israeli army.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad are also trying to prevent Gaza City residents from evacuating to humanitarian zones in the south following Israeli evacuation orders, according to the Saudi report. Government workers are being ordered to continue their assigned duties
IDF says it will soon increase pace of Gaza City strikes, reiterates call to evacuate
The IDF said on Wednesday it would increase its strikes on Gaza City in the coming days as part of its preparations to invade and conquer the city, as it continued to urge Palestinians to evacuate the area in the northern Gaza Strip, pushing back against Hamas’s claims that the humanitarian zone in the enclave’s south was full.

It said in a statement on Wednesday evening that it would “increase the pace of strikes” in the densely populated Gaza City, with the intention of “targeting Hamas’ terror infrastructure, disrupting its operational readiness, and reducing the threat to our forces as part of preparations for the next stages” of the offensive.

As part of its preparations, the IDF said it has struck over 360 “terror targets” in Gaza City in recent days, including several high-rise towers that it said were being used by Hamas for various purposes.

The widespread strikes were conducted in three main waves, beginning on Friday with attacks against high-rise buildings where the military said Hamas had installed surveillance equipment and set up sniper and anti-tank missile posts and command centers.

The first wave took place in the Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods, where the IDF said it hit Hamas observation and sniper posts, a Hamas interrogation facility, tunnel shafts under buildings and weapon depots, among other targets.

The second and third waves took place in Daraj, Tuffah and the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, with numerous strikes against Hamas targets, including a tunnel where operatives were gathered to carry out an attack and an RPG manufacturing site, the military said.


Israel strikes Houthis, targeting propaganda HQ, camps with operatives
The Israeli Air Force carried out strikes Wednesday in Yemen’s Houthi-held capital of Sanaa and a nearby province, reportedly killing and injuring scores, in response to the Iran-backed group’s repeated attacks on Israel.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said the strikes in Sanaa and in the al-Jawf area north of the capital hit Houthi military camps where operatives were gathered, the headquarters of the terror group’s propaganda division, and a fuel depot.

The Houthis’ health ministry spokesman, Anees Alasbahi, said on X that the strikes killed 35 people and wounded a further 131.

The IDF said the strikes came as a response to the Houthis’ ballistic missile and explosive drone attacks on Israel, the latest coming on Tuesday night. Earlier this week, a Houthi drone struck Ramon Airport in southern Israel.

According to the military, the Houthis’ military propaganda division “is responsible for spreading incitement and propaganda messages in the media, including speeches by the leader Abdul-Malik [al-Houthi] and statements by spokesman Yahya Saree.”

“During the war, the headquarters has spearheaded the regime’s propaganda and psychological terror efforts,” the military said.

The Houthi camps that were struck were used by the Iran-backed group to “plan and execute attacks against the IDF and the State of Israel. The camps also contained operations and intelligence command centers used by the regime,” the IDF added.

The strikes on Wednesday marked the longest flight carried out by the IAF since the fighting began, with fighter jets flying over 2,350 kilometers (1,460 miles) to reach the targets, according to the military.


UKLFI: Natasha Hausdorff dismantles false genocide claim levelled against Israel
International lawyer, barrister and UKLFI Charitable Trust Legal Director, Natasha Hausdorff, delivers a forensic legal analysis dismantling the false allegations of genocide against Israel.

In this in-depth briefing, Natasha explains the true legal definition of genocide, the role of international law, and why accusations against Israel lack any credible basis.

She examines:
The weaponisation of international courts & NGOs
Hamas’ actual genocidal intent on 7th October
The bogus ICJ case brought by South Africa
The role of false casualty figures & media misreporting
False claims of starvation, rhetoric, and international law
Natasha’s analysis provides clarity, facts, and legal reasoning to cut through misinformation.
Watch the full 43-minute interview and get the facts from a leading legal expert.

Chapters:
0:00 – Introduction
0:57 – Why the word “genocide” is being used against Israel
03:11 – The true legal definition of genocide
05:27 – David Lammy’s comments and the UK position
08:01 – Hamas’ genocidal intent on 7th October
12:22 – So-called scholars' lack of credibility
17:40 – South Africa’s bogus case at the ICJ
27:04 – False starvation claims and aid facts
37:36 – The truth about rhetoric from a legal perspective
41:17 – Final thoughts: No truth in claim but "damage done"




Hamas Thought They Had A 'Get out Of Jail Free Card' BIG MISTAKE!
In this episode, we break down the shocking assassination of Hamas leadership in Qatar and what it means for the future of the war in Gaza. Hamas believed they were untouchable in Doha, but this strike proves otherwise—sending shockwaves through the region and raising serious questions about what comes next. Could this killing trigger Hamas to retaliate, disrupt hostage negotiations, or accelerate Israel’s plans for the final phase of the war? We explore how this operation exposes Hamas’s growing vulnerability and why it could mark a decisive turning point in the conflict.


‘Shamed our country’: Albanese and Wong have ‘abandoned Israel’
Sky News host Chris Kenny says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have “abandoned Israel” and “shamed our country”.

“Let me be as blunt as I can be about our government and its attitude to antisemitism, Israel and the war in Gaza, Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong disgust me,” Mr Kenny said.

“They have stood by while the Australian Jewish community has been terrorised.”


Israel continues ‘legitimate target’ against Hamas leadership in Qatar
Liberal Senator Dave Sharma discusses Israel’s recent “legitimate target” on Hamas leadership in Qatar.


Terminally-ill 9/11 hero blasts Zohran Mamdani for associating with terror sympathizer Hasan Piker
A terminally-ill 9/11 hero and his first responder wife on Tuesday slammed Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani for associating with vile left-wing influencer Hasan Piker, who once said “America deserved” the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

“How can you hang around with someone who said, ‘America deserved 9/11?’ That’s disgraceful,” Wendi Turturici, 52, who became an EMT after the 9/11 attacks told The Post in an interview.

“Mamdani doesn’t deserve to be mayor,” she said. “I’m calling on [him] to disavow Hasan Piker and his hateful words.”

Her husband, Sal Turturici, 60, an FDNY emergency medical technician who removed bodies and body parts from Ground Zero to be sent to the morgue and now suffers stage 4 Neuroendocrine cancer added: “I don’t like Mamdani.”

The couple said they were endorsing Mamdani’s rival, ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in the November election, joining him for a press conference two days before the 24th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed 2,977 people.

Mamdani raised eyebrows when he sat down for an interview with Piker released in April as the pair waded into the Israel-Hamas war.

At one point, the mayoral frontrunner suggested Israel was committing “genocide” in Gaza and accused Cuomo of “weaponizing” antisemitism for his own political gain.

Piker, a popular left-wing Twitch streamer with millions of followers, has a history of spewing hate – including once declaring that America “deserved 9/11.”


Tunisia says 'assault' on Gaza aid ship was 'orchestrated'
Tunisia said on Wednesday the "assault" on a ship at Sidi Bou Said port was "orchestrated," after the Global Sumud Flotilla, preparing to deliver aid to Gaza, reported one of its boats was attacked by a drone in the second such strike in two days.

GSF is set to sail for Gaza in an effort to break Israel's naval blockade, following two nights of alleged drone attacks on key vessels in the convoy which organizers described as deliberate attempts by Israel to disrupt the mission.

The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment.

There were no injuries, and civil protection authorities brought a fire on the boat under control on Wednesday night.

The Tunisian interior Ministry, which did not accuse any party or country, said in a statement that it was conducting investigations into the drone attack.

The United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, told Reuters on Tuesday "it is an attack against Tunisian sovereignty."
Gaza activists claim second boat in flotilla attacked by drone
The pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activist flotilla seeking to break the Gaza blockade claimed Wednesday it was attacked for a second night in a row and that a drone targeted one of its boats that was docked in Tunisian waters. No one was harmed.

However, there was doubt as to whether there was even a first attack — Tunisian authorities claimed that the first explosion originated inside the vessel, and Tunisia’s National Guard spokesperson told Mosaique FM radio that reports of a drone attack on the flotilla “have no basis in truth.”

On Wednesday, the Global Sumud Flotilla shared CCTV footage showing people on board the group’s British-flagged Alma shouting “fire” and pointing to the sky. Projectiles appeared to fall on the deck, exploding and setting off a blaze.

“A drone came and dropped another incendiary device,” claimed Thiago Ávila, a Brazilian activist and flotilla spokesperson.

The group also posted a photo of a charred object covered in melted plastic, which they said was dropped by the drone, causing the fire.
Note the fuel already spilt on the deck.




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