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Thursday, October 16, 2025

10/16 Links Pt1: Melanie Phillips: It’s not over yet; The Marches Were Never about Peace. They Were about the Destruction of Israel

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: It’s not over yet
Those organizing the refocused Western hate fests are buoyed because, while war against Israel and the Jews has experienced a setback in the Middle East, it has had no pushback at all in the West.

On the contrary, liberal Western governments—the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Australia—have been enthusiastically joining in the diplomatic war to destroy Israel through demonization and delegitimization based on the script served up to them by Hamas, Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood.

In the Palestinian Arab-Israeli online magazine +972, Ahmed Moor gloated this week: “Jewish supremacy in Palestine—the core tenet of Zionism—is increasingly regarded as illegitimate across the globe. It is far too early to declare that the Zionist era in Palestine is over, but October 2025 portends a different future. If the genocide has rendered Gaza uninhabitable for Palestinians, it has also made the world newly inhospitable to Zionism.”

This is expressing itself in ever-more jaw-dropping Western moral sickness. Videos on social media show Gazans being brutally tortured and murdered by Hamas. Western “pro-Palestinians” have either been silent about this treatment of the people they claim to support or have even applauded their execution as “collaborators” with Israel.

They have not only been lionizing the terrorists released from Israeli prisons but calling them “hostages,” thus equating genocidal mass murderers with the victims of their regime.

CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour went one better when she claimed that the Israeli hostages were “probably being treated better than the average Gazan.” The subsequent outcry forced her to issue a mealy-mouthed apology.

In Britain, an Oxford University student was filmed whipping up a crowd into a chant of “Gaza, Gaza, make us proud, put the Zios in the ground!”

He has now been suspended from the university and arrested. But calls to destroy Israel and murder Jews have been tolerated at these hate marches for the past two years while the police and government ministers bleat about “free speech.”

The reason for this lunacy is that the Jews are at the very core of the crisis of Western identity. Liberal universalists hate Israel as a Western nation-state, and because they believe that the Jews are behind capitalism and its associated supposed oppression and colonialism. Isolationists on the American right hate Israel because they believe that it sucks the United States into foreign wars, thus demonstrating that the Jews are a global conspiracy to put others at risk for their own benefit.

In Tablet magazine, Michael Doran writes: “The antisemitism of left and right is not a noxious gas seeping out of the soil and wafting into politics. It is being weaponized—cleverly and deliberately—by organized forces for political warfare. Progressives festoon their bigotry with banners of diversity, equity, and inclusion, demanding Jews disown Israel. Meanwhile, [Tucker] Carlson updates the Protocols to paint Jews as the hidden hand behind the empire, insisting the covenant be cut so American patriots can smash unelected concentrations of global power.”

Doran writes that the obsessional argument over Israel is, at base, an argument over the identity of America, which was originally cast in Israel’s image.

This is no less true of Britain, whose constitutional monarchy was drawn up by its 18th-century Puritan evangelical creators explicitly using the template of the ancient kingdom of Israel—the same template used by the same people who became the founding fathers of America’s constitutional settlement. And Judaism also lies at the very foundation of the West’s moral codes.

That biblically based culture has been under relentless onslaught for decades by liberal universalist Western elites. The result has been the replacement of morality by ideologies based on the false division of the world into the powerful and powerless. This opened the way for Palestinianism, which casts the fictitious “Palestinians” falsely as the indigenous people of the land of Israel who were displaced by the alleged Jewish interlopers—the only people for whom it was ever their national kingdom.

The Islamist Palestinian cause, which has taken the place of Vietnam as the acme of progressivism, has opened the way in turn for the Islamization of the West.

This is a movement, through Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood, to replace the Jews and Christians with Islam—and it’s now got the wind in its sails. Does Trump realize this? Israel does. The West’s craven elites certainly don’t.
George F. Will: Primary Credit for the Gaza Ceasefire Goes to the IDF - and Netanyahu-
The stark lesson of Israel's achievement since Oct. 7, 2023, is: Often military might does, and often only it can, make room for diplomacy.

Primary credit for the ceasefire between Israel and those who still aspire to murder it goes to the Israel Defense Forces. Credit also goes to the prime minister who wielded the IDF with a properly austere regard for the opinions of mankind, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The diplomats' hour arrived after, and because of, the fighting by those who form the tip of Israel's spear against unprovoked and wanton violence - the mostly young men and women of the IDF. To the Trump administration's credit, the U.S. has enabled Israel's victory by not restraining its self-defense.

Israel's reality on Oct. 7 was that it was contiguous to an enclave under the thumb of organized sadists who sheltered behind a captive civilian population. The war that paused and perhaps ended last week reminded the world that Israel has never known a day of peace, properly understood.

Israel has always had U.S. support because it has earned it. It has never, however, been dependent on it. Centuries of hard experiences, culminating in Auschwitz, have taught the Jewish people the lethal risks of dependence on others.

For decades, U.S. officials belabored Israel with reasons why, in negotiations with bellicose enemies, it should "take a risk for peace." To one official, Netanyahu, referring to a tranquil Washington suburb, replied, "You live in Chevy Chase. Don't play with our future."

Israel has refused to trim its sails to accommodate gusts of critical opinions from people living comfortably at a safe distance from violence.
Douglas Murray: After the Gaza cease-fire, what will these faux revolutionaries protest? Some ideas
3. But perhaps protestors feel that the education of the next generation of Americans doesn’t matter much to them. Or that the homelessness crisis doesn’t need to bother them. Perhaps some people really do think it´s better to address their energies to far-off conflicts. In which case I have a few terrific causes that they would do well to address.

Why not throw yourself into the Northern Cyprus question? Cyprus is an EU Member State, and yet the north of the country has been illegally occupied for over half a century. It is 51 years now since the Turkish army invaded the island, killing the locals and forcefully displacing tens of thousands of Greek Cypriots from their homes. Does anyone want to call for the return of these families?

If not then how about the plight of the Christians of Northern Nigeria? I have seen that conflict myself and the relentless massacres against Nigerian Christians by the Fulani militias, Boko Haram and others really does constitute a genocide. It is an effort to wipe out the native Christian population with Kalashnikovs, suicide-bombs and machetes.

Why are there no protests on the streets of New York about this? Is it because the victims are Christians? Or is it because the perpetrators of the violence are jihadists rather than Jews? In any case, if you believe that shouting on the streets of New York can stop a genocide, how about focusing on a real one?

4. But perhaps some of the real die-hard, would-be Che Guevaras, really do want to linger on the tiny bit of territory known as Gaza that nobody — Israel, nor Egypt — wants to govern. If you are one of those people who two years ago had to check exactly where this tiny speck of land is, and decided that it is your spiritual homeland as causes go, why not keep up your interest?

Since last weekend’s ceasefire came into effect, and the Israeli Defense Forces withdrew, Hamas and other jihadist militias have moved in to try to reassert control. Anyone who has spent recent years online passing around terrible videos of violence should not turn away now.

Look at the videos of Hamas members lining up families from clans they oppose, getting them to kneel on the ground and then shooting them all in the head.

If you are somebody who “cares” then these are all very good things to care about. But if you’d rather stay home now that the war has stopped, then do know that the rest of us can see who you were all along.
Stephen Daisley: The Marches Were Never about Peace. They Were about the Destruction of Israel
Since Oct. 7, the pro-Palestinian lobby has enjoyed unprecedented success in manipulating the media coverage of Israel's war to free its hostages from Gaza.

The world swallowed without question the claim that Israel was deliberately manufacturing a famine to wipe out Palestinian children.

Yet, the only massacres or atrocities to protest were those that had been conducted by Palestinians against Israelis, and Western sympathizers were certainly not demonstrating against those.

They were celebrating their victim-idols' daring slaughter of defenseless Israelis.

Saturday's demonstration in London must be the first recorded example of people protesting the end of a supposed genocide.

This is a movement more concerned with dismantling Israel than with building up Palestine.

There is a ceasefire. The killing has stopped. Aid is going in. Who in their right mind protests that? A movement that sees peace as an impediment to vilifying Israel.


Trump Gaza plan on verge of collapse, warns Saudi Arabia and UAE
Due to what they describe as the mediators' leniency regarding Hamas' refusal to disarm, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain have issued warnings that the effort to end the war is at risk of collapsing. Arab and US diplomatic sources confirmed to Israel Hayom that messages to this effect were sent by the Gulf states of the moderate Sunni axis to the White House and to the architects of the Gaza plan, President Donald Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

The warnings focus on Hamas' conduct since the ceasefire began, including the systematic assassination of rivals from competing clans, armed displays in the streets, extortion of local merchants, and statements by senior officials flatly rejecting the prospect of disarmament.

In their latest communication with Washington, the Saudis warned that unless there is a decisive US response and a change in approach by the mediators—Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey—to enforce the plan's terms on Hamas, Saudi Arabia will not participate in the continuation of the process. A Saudi diplomatic source confirmed to Israel Hayom that such messages were delivered to the Americans.

He said that for months Saudi Arabia has made clear its position: there is no viable solution to the war in Gaza or to the future of the Palestinians in general as long as Hamas remains part of the equation. "This organization has inflicted enormous harm on the Palestinian people, a war that led to the deaths of tens of thousands of its own, the destruction of the entire Gaza Strip, and now it insists on preserving the muqawama (armed resistance)?"

He added that it is "a resistance that has caused a catastrophe even worse than the Nakba. It is absolutely clear that Hamas will sabotage any force—Palestinian, Arab, or international—seeking to restore order in the Strip. As long as there is no serious move to eliminate Hamas' influence and control over Gaza, there is no chance of its rehabilitation and reconstruction."

In the messages sent to the US, it was explicitly stated that Saudi Arabia is downgrading its level of engagement in the implementation of the Trump plan, and that it is unlikely to attend the reconstruction conference Egypt plans to host next month.

The Emiratis have expressed a similar stance, but since they are already investing considerable resources in aiding Gaza's displaced, their warnings are focused on areas under Hamas control. According to their messages, they will continue rebuilding efforts in the southern parts of the Strip where Israel maintains military control. However, they have made clear that they will not participate in reconstructing other areas unless a framework is in place for Hamas' disarmament and for full civilian and security control by international forces, as outlined in the Trump plan.
Netanyahu’s approval ratings at all-time high: Poll
According to the latest Direct Polls survey, conducted by Shlomo Filber in the wake of the release on Monday of the remaining 20 living hostages held in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval ratings are at their highest since the elections in Nov. 2022.

The results of the poll were published on Wednesday by Israel’s Channel 14. Where suitability to serve as prime minister is concerned, the poll revealed that 58% of Israelis favor Netanyahu; 22% favor his closest rival, Naftali Bennett; and 11% favor former minister-without-portfolio (and former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff) Gadi Eizenkot; 4% favor opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid; 4% favor Yisrael Beiteinu Party leader Avigdor Liberman; and 1% favor National Unity Party head Benny Gantz.

The poll also found that if elections were held today, Netanyahu’s ruling coalition would win a 66-seat majority, two more seats than it won in the 2022 elections; opposition parties would garner 43 seats; and the anti-Zionist Arab parties would receive 11 seats.

According to the poll, Netanyahu’s Likud Party would garner 35 seats, three more than it won in the 2022 elections; Bennett’s eponymous party would win 13 seats; Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party would garner 4 seats, just passing the minimal limit for entering the Knesset.
Trump threatens to ‘kill’ Hamas if Gaza executions continue
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Hamas on Thursday over the terrorist group’s ongoing executions of civilians in Gaza.

“If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them,” Trump wrote.

Hamas has claimed that the public executions are directed at violent gangs or individuals who collaborated with Israel. Citing a “Palestinian security source,” Reuters reported on Monday that the group had killed 32 people.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he didn’t mind the executions.

“They did take out a couple of gangs that were very bad, very, very bad gangs that they did take them out, and they killed a number of gang members, and that didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you,” Trump said. “That’s OK.”

On Wednesday, the head of U.S. Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, condemned the shootings.

“We strongly urge Hamas to immediately suspend violence and shooting at innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza—in both Hamas-held parts of Gaza and those secured by the IDF behind the Yellow Line,” Cooper stated. “We have conveyed our concerns to the mediators who agreed to work with us to enforce the peace and protect innocent Gaza civilians.”


Israel believes Hamas could return most deceased hostages, argues it is breaching deal
Israel’s assessment of Hamas’s ability to return the majority of hostage bodies contradicts statements made by top US officials over the past 24 hours.

On Friday, as the IDF completed its redeployment in Gaza and the 72-hour clock began ticking for Hamas to return the 20 living and 28 deceased hostages, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel that Jerusalem knew that the bodies of at least nine hostages would likely not be returned in the three-day window, but assessed that Hamas would be able to return the majority of the 28.

The assessment was based on Israeli intelligence, said the official.

In fact, Hamas had returned no bodies of deceased hostages by noon on Monday, when the deadline expired. It has yet to return 19 of the 28, and claimed on Wednesday that it cannot access or locate any more.

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday accused Hamas of violating the terms of the deal and threatened a return to the fighting in Gaza.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told his Italian counterpart “that Israel knows full well that Hamas is capable of returning additional bodies and is choosing not to do so.”

However, two senior Trump administration officials gathered reporters for a phone briefing on Wednesday to argue that the terror group had not violated the ceasefire agreement and that it was indeed unable to reach any more of the bodies.

The wording of the deal appears to allow for both interpretations, since it includes contradictory phrasing.


“They Chose This” | Tensions Rise As Hamas Hands Over Wrong Body In Hostage Release
As part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal, Hamas agrees to return both living hostages and the remains of deceased ones to Israel. The first phase of the deal requires Hamas to hand over 20 living hostages and 28 bodies. So far, Hamas has returned all 20 living hostages and seven bodies, which Israel confirms through DNA testing.

However, the Israeli military announces that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas does not belong to any of the hostages taken during the 7 October 2023 attacks. After forensic examination, Israel determines that the remains do not match any known hostage, leaving officials unsure of the person’s identity. Hamas has not yet offered an explanation for the mix-up.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responds by demanding that Hamas fully comply with the ceasefire terms and return all of the correct remains. He stresses that Israel will not compromise until every deceased hostage is accounted for. The situation heightens tensions surrounding the fragile truce, with Israeli officials expressing frustration over the incident.

This is not the first time such an error occurs. In a previous ceasefire earlier in the year, Hamas mistakenly returns the body of a Palestinian woman instead of a hostage.

Kevin O'Sullivan interviews Israeli legal scholar Eugene Kontorovich to discuss this issue further.


Khaled Abu Toameh: Qatar and Turkey Want to Rebuild Hamas, Not Reconstruct Gaza
Inviting Qatar and Turkey to play a role in the Gaza Strip means again bringing Iran in through the back door. Both countries have strong relations and shared interests with Iran.

In the time-honored tradition of Arab politeness, these countries may well be telling Trump what he would like to hear -- secure in the knowledge that in three years, he will be off their backs, unable to pressure them anymore. Meanwhile, they will have positioned themselves comfortably in Gaza, learned more about Israeli technology, and be free to do as they like.

"Qatar and certainly Turkey must not have a foothold in Gaza again. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Jordan hate Hamas and are more concerned about the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Qatar is the one that funded Hamas in the years leading up to October 7..." — Unnamed senior Israel Defense Forces officer, YNET, October 12, 2025.

It is laughable -- and dangerous -- to assume that under their current rulers, Qatar and Turkey, as well as Iran, would ever play a positive and constructive role in ensuring peace and stability in the Middle East. These three regimes have always been on the side of the Muslim Brotherhood organization and several Islamist terror groups, including Islamic State (ISIS), Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah.

Qatar and Turkey are not interested in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Instead, they are interested, with the backing of Iran, in rebuilding Hamas's military and civilian capabilities and ensuring that the terror group, perhaps in some rebranded form, remains in power.


Andrew Fox: More evidence of Hamas casualty figure manipulation
In the information front of the Gaza war, the fatality data provided by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health (MoH) has been uncritically repeated by journalists, NGOs and even policymakers across the West. But this data is inherently unreliable. Not only does it deliberately not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but it is unverified and emanates from a terror group with a history of manipulating casualty data for propaganda purposes in past wars.

Specifically, the fatality list published by the MoH, which purports to document individual Gazans killed by IDF munitions (including the name, age, sex and Israeli-approved ID number for each entry), is susceptible to manifold inaccuracies and distortions, including:
- Omitted combatants (mostly men of fighting age): as seen in past wars, due to both deliberate concealment by Hamas and the discouragement of Gazans to publicise the deaths of combatants. Additionally, some combatant bodies are likely located in difficult-to-reach locations, such as tunnels.
- Inclusion of some natural/non-violent deaths. Note that the MoH has not reported the number of non-violent deaths in Gaza since October 7 (which has probably increased compared to pre-war death rates) despite the MoH saying it intended to release this data by the end of 2024.
- Inclusion of Hamas/PIJ-caused deaths: from rocket misfire (up to 20% of Palestinian rockets misfire and land in Gaza - as of June 2025, 10,100 rockets had crossed into Israeli territory from Gaza since October 7) and other forms of misfire, and IEDs, as well as executions and killings of other Gazans.
- Inclusion of deaths related to Gazan criminal killings and inter-faction conflict: note that 36% of civilian deaths in the Iraq Body Count database for the 2003-2005 period were attributed to local criminal actions or inter-ethnic violence – the latter doesn’t apply in Gaza. Still, criminal and inter-faction killings have probably increased significantly due to the breakdown of law and order.
- Omitted civilians: due to bodies of missing persons (who haven't been reported to the MoH via the online notification system, or who have but are excluded from the list) hidden under rubble, as well as deaths otherwise not processed by Gaza's morgue system. However, omitted civilians are probably a small proportion of deaths. The MoH has said only 1,309 bodies were recovered from rubble or remote areas over 7 months between January 19 and August 21 2025 including the ceasefire period (albeit under conditions of limited resources and access), and as of 18 July 2025, the Hamas Government Media Office (its propaganda arm) claimed only 9,500 “Missing persons, including martyrs who are still under the rubble, and others whose fate remains unknown”. While the MoH recently claimed 9,600 are reported missing, and of these 6,000 allegedly trapped under rubble and 3,600 others missing (alive or dead). And the MoH list already includes an unknown number of entries from "family-notifications" for people missing but presumed dead. Therefore, the number of civilians missing from the MoH's fatality list is probably a small proportion of the overall death toll.
- Inclusion of fictitious deaths of Gazans who are alive (located within or outside of Gaza) or who never existed (the latter is unlikely to be significant in number, as each entry in the list includes a seemingly valid Israeli-approved ID number).

Estimating these inaccuracies and distortions entails significant uncertainty. But we can test the plausibility of some mortality estimates based on their consistency with other data points reported by the MoH and our knowledge of the conditions on the ground in Gaza.
The Hostage Deal Collapses the Gaza Genocide Claim
The reality has proven otherwise. Israel did exactly what it said it would: it fought until its citizens were all returned and Hamas was broken, then it stopped. The Trump Peace Agreement that Israel signed reinforces this intent. Point 2 reads: “Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough.” Point 9 provides funding for redevelopment, and Point 10 commits to “rebuild and energize Gaza.” This is the language of rehabilitation and a prosperity for Palestinians, not annihilation. It dovetails precisely with Netanyahu’s words spoken 20 months ago about demilitarization, deradicalization, and the possibility of a better future.

The genocide accusation always hinged on intent. Intent has now been proven empirically. Israel’s war began with the murder and kidnapping of its citizens; it ended with their safe return and Hamas’s effective neutralization and plan for disarmament. To maintain the genocide claim now requires ignoring both words and deeds: ignoring Netanyahu’s and other leaders’ clear statements, ignoring the structure of the Trump peace plan, and ignoring the empirical reality that the war ended once Israel’s stated objectives were effectively achieved. It also requires ignoring the true mood of Israeli society, which Bartov and so many others incorrectly described as genocidal. In fact, the national response was a collective joy at the hostages’ return and relief that the war was over, not bloodlust to continue fighting until Palestinians were eradicated. Every element of the manufactured genocidal intent narrative has completely collapsed.

For NGOs, academics, and commentators who spent two years insisting that Israel’s intent was extermination of a people, this moment is their final undoing. Their case rested on the claim that Israel’s leaders were bloodthirsty, that their stated goals were camouflage for a darker agenda of mass extermination as national policy, all backed by an equally bloodthirsty society. They were wrong. The accusation of genocide was not just false; it was obscene. And with the hostages home and the IDF pulling back and working towards peace and reconstruction, the world can now see it for what it always was: a lie and a blood libel, finally undone by the truth. But no one should be under any illusion: Israel’s enemies will continue to recycle these lies, because delegitimizing and destroying Israel has always been their goal.


An outright unlawful misuse of Jerusalem embassy privileges
The recent, misguided efforts of France and the United Kingdom to use their consulates in Jerusalem as embassies to the Palestinian Authority, which they now ostensibly recognize as the so-called state of Palestine, are not only inappropriate but contrary to existing treaties and law.

The Oslo II Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 28, 1995, and witnessed by then U.S. President Bill Clinton, among others, expressly prohibits establishing a consulate for the P.A., as it says in Article IX, Section 5a of the Oslo II Accord, the P.A. “ … will not have powers and responsibilities in the sphere of foreign relations, which sphere includes the establishment abroad of embassies, consulates or other types of foreign missions and posts or permitting their establishment in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, the appointment of or admission of diplomatic and consular staff, and the exercise of diplomatic functions.”

Why would France and the United Kingdom seek to induce a breach of Oslo II, the basis of the two-state solution for which they so fervently advocate? Furthermore, it’s hard to imagine why anyone other than a dilettante would insist on positioning a consulate dedicated to serving the P.A. in the heart of Jerusalem, in what amounts to a foreign country?

Will these proto-embassy-like consulates to the so-called state of Palestine serve only the non-Jewish residents that the P.A. governs in the areas of Judea and Samaria that it controls? There are about 200,000 French and upward of 60,000 British citizens, many of them Jewish, living in Israel, including many in Jerusalem, and elsewhere in Judea and Samaria. Are they to be disenfranchised? There are also 60,000 U.S. citizens and more than 500,000 Israeli citizens who live in Judea and Samaria (plus hundreds of thousands more in Jerusalem), who are Jewish. Would they, too, effectively be excluded?
Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Vietnam set to win top UN rights posts
Ahead of Tuesday’s elections for the UN Human Rights Council, activists called on the world body to oppose the candidacies of Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Vietnam, and Angola, deeming those states “unqualified” due to their poor records on respecting human rights at home, and in voting on UN resolutions concerning human rights.

The country ratings appear in a new joint report by a cross-regional coalition of three human rights groups, United Nations Watch in Switzerland, Human Rights Foundation in the U.S., and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights in Canada.

“Electing serial human rights abusers like Pakistan, Egypt, and Iraq as UN judges on human rights is like making a gang of arsonists into the fire brigade,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of United Nations Watch, an independent non-governmental human rights organization based in Geneva.

“It will be slap in the face to their many victims of human rights abuse — including political prisoners, persecuted journalists, children subjected to child labor — if the UN makes gross abusers into global judges and guardians of human rights,” said Neuer.

“When the UN’s highest human rights body becomes a case of the foxes guarding the henhouse, the world’s victims suffer.”

Unlike previous years, this year’s election features a total absence of competition in all five regional slates, meaning all candidates are in practice guaranteed to win, despite their poor records on human rights.

“The absence of competition this year undermines the very premise and rationale for holding elections,” said Neuer.

“We are calling on France, Germany, the UK, the US, and other democracies to publicly announce that they will not vote for Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Vietnam and Angola, who have been deemed unqualified for the Human Rights Council. So far, at least in the public arena, they have been silent.”


IDF strikes underground Hezbollah terrorist sites across Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces carried out airstrikes targeting underground terrorist infrastructure belonging to Iranian-backed Hezbollah in two areas across Lebanon, the military announced on Thursday evening.

The operation—conducted under the direction of the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate and with support from the Israeli Air Force—targeted weapons depots in the Beqaa Valley and Southern Lebanon.

The military accused Hezbollah of continuing efforts to rebuild its terror infrastructure across the Land of the Cedars, in violation of Jerusalem’s November 2024 ceasefire understandings with the official Beirut government.

Later on Thursday night, the military said IAF fighter jets struck more targets linked to the Iranian terrorist army and Green Without Borders, a Hezbollah-affiliated organization that poses as an environmental NGO.

Among the targets hit was a quarry where Hezbollah produced concrete used to rebuild terror infrastructure destroyed by Israel during the 13 months of cross-border fighting, according to the IDF statement.

“In addition, a site used by the Green Without Borders organization to conceal Hezbollah’s efforts to rebuild its infrastructure in Southern Lebanon under the guise of civilian activity was also struck,” it said.


Houthi chief of staff dead; Yemeni terrorists warn Israel of ‘punishment’
Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists announced on Thursday that their “chief of staff,” Muhammad Abd Al-Karim al-Ghamari, was killed “while fulfilling his duties,” indirectly blaming Israel for his death.

The terrorist organization warned that its two-year-long conflict with the Jewish state had not ended, saying Jerusalem would “receive its deterrent punishment.”

The Houthis have carried out countless missile and drone attacks on Israel—including a drone attack that wounded 22 Israelis in Eilat on Sept. 24—since the Hamas-led terrorist assault on Oct. 7, 2023.

In response to the attacks on civilian areas, Jerusalem has conducted several rounds of airstrikes against the Yemeni terrorist organization.

Al-Ghamari was targeted in the Aug. 28 Israeli Air Force operation that also eliminated the Houthis’ “prime minister,” Ahmed al-Rahawi, and multiple other senior officials in the Iranian terror proxy in Yemen.

Al-Rahawi had served in his role since August 2024. He was the most senior official to be killed by the Israeli military so far in the two years of fighting with the Houthis.


IDF releases new photo of Sinwar’s body on anniversary of Hamas leader’s elimination
The Israel Defense Forces released a never-before-seen picture on Thursday showing the slain body of Yahya Sinwar, marking one year since IDF soldiers killed the Hamas terrorist mastermind in the Gaza Strip.

The photo shows former IDF Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, former Operations Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk and Gaza Division chief Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram standing near Sinwar’s body on Oct. 17, 2024, a day after he had been killed in southern Gaza.

The image was made public as part of a set of iconic photos taken by IDF photographers during the war, which will be displayed as part of an exhibition at the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv starting on Sunday.

“A year since humanity was freed from the master of the flood of evil,” tweeted Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab Media Branch in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

“Goodness cannot be defeated—and justice, no matter how delayed, will prevail. To hell, and what a miserable fate awaits you, Sinwar,” added the military spokesman.

Sinwar was the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks in Israel’s south on Oct. 7, 2023, during which around 1,200 people, primarily civilians, were murdered; thousands were wounded; and 251 were kidnapped.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted on X on Sunday a handwritten letter penned by Sinwar revealing the Oct. 7 massacre “wasn’t chaos, but choreography.”


Bodies of last remaining female hostage and IDF Bedouin soldier returned to Israel
The bodies of two further hostages returned to Israel on Wednesday evening have been officially identified as the remains of the last remaining female captive in Gaza and that of a Bedouin IDF soldier who fell in battle against Hamas.

Inbar Hayman was kidnapped alive from the Nova festival on 7 October 2023. She was then murdered, and her body taken into caoptivity, where it was kept for 740 days.

A talented graffiti artist known by the name “Pink”, 27-year old Hayman managed to hide at the Nova site for more than two hours, but was captured by other terrorists who came riding a motorcycle.

In the videos that documented her kidnapping, she appeared unconscious.

Thirty-nine year old Muhammad Al-Atrash was killed fighting Hamas on 7 October, 2023. The body of the Israeli Bedouin, a tracker in the Northern Brigade of the Gaza Division, was abducted and denied to his family and his 13 children, including a newborn, just a month old when he was murdered.

A devoted father from the Bedouin village of Sa’wa in the Negev, Mohammed’s loved ones endured months of uncertainty until June 2024, when Israel confirmed he had died in battle near Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
Wife of Tal Haimi waiting to bury her husband, whose body remains held in Gaza
Bereaved wife Ela Haimi says she is waiting to bury her husband, Tal Haimi, who was killed in battle with Hamas on October 7, his body taken to Gaza, as she waits to hear the identities of the four bodies being released by Hamas at 10 p.m.

“It will be a very hard evening and night, very tense,” says Haimi.

“I don’t know if one of those bodies will be my husband or not,” says Haimi, speaking in a press conference. “I’ve been waiting for this day for almost two years.”

Haimi, a mechanical engineer and Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak native like his wife, led the kibbutz’s first response team on October 7.

At first, Haimi was told her husband was a hostage, as his phone was located in Khan Younis.

In December 2023, while Haimi was relocated to an Eilat hotel with the rest of the kibbutz, the army informed her that her husband had been killed on October 7, his body taken hostage to Gaza.

On December 15, Haimi decided to hold a funeral, burying Tal’s helmet in a grave in Kibbutz Revivim and sitting shiva in the hotel, to help her three children find some sense of closure.

A few months later, her fourth child, Lotan, was born.

Now, relocated back home to Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, Haimi said she seeks real closure for herself and her four children.

“I can live with four bodies [being brought] a day when I know that all will be brought home eventually,” says Haimi. “I’m afraid Hamas will stop today, tomorrow, in a week, and will say they can’t find anyone.”
Thousands pay last respects to Staff Sgt. Tamir Nimrodi and Sgt. Maj. Muhammad el-Atrash
Funerals were held in Israel on Thursday for slain hostages Staff Sgt. Tamir Nimrodi and Sgt. Maj. Muhammad el-Atrash, after their bodies were returned this week by Hamas as part of a ceasefire deal.

Nimrodi, 18, was serving in the IDF Education Corps on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists abducted him from his military base and took him into Gaza alive. He is believed to have been killed shortly afterward, possibly in an IDF strike.

Atrash, 39, a tracker in the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, was killed while battling Hamas terrorists in the area of Nahal Oz on October 7 and his body was seized.

Thousands of mourners turned out to Nimrodi’s funeral on Thursday at Kfar Saba’s military cemetery. There, the slain soldier’s family lamented a death that had been unconfirmed until hours before Tamir was returned from captivity, two years after he was killed.

No sign of life had been reported from Nimrodi since his abduction alongside two other soldiers on October 7, footage of which quickly circulated online. His loved ones had continued to hold out out hope that he was still alive.

His father, Alon Nimrodi, told his son in a eulogy that he fought in every possible way to bring him home. He described Tamir’s powerful hugs, his rolling laughter with his sisters, his anxiety and the medication that he abandoned when he enlisted.

Alon also shared feelings of guilt for pushing his son to enlist, telling him there was no draft-dodging in their family, and that he didn’t oppose his son’s placement on the Gaza Strip border.

“Forgive me, my firstborn, my beloved — forgive me!” he said.


Eitan Horn, Nimrod Cohen leave hospital, return home after 738 days in Hamas captivity
Freed Hamas hostages Eitan Horn and Nimrod Cohen were discharged on Thursday from Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center’s Ichilov Hospital, three days after returning to Israel under the truce deal that secured their release after more than 700 days in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Sourasky Medical Center said the ex-captives completed all the required medical evaluations before their release and that medical teams would continue to accompany them and their families during their recovery.

Horn, 38, was released to his family’s home in the central city of Kfar Saba, where hundreds of ecstatic residents lined the streets, waving Israeli flags, clapping and singing the national anthem, per Ynet.

“After 738 difficult and long days in Hamas captivity, Eitan is finally coming home,” the Horn family said in a statement. “We’re waiting for him with hugs and endless love and will support him throughout his rehabilitation. Our heart is not whole, and our struggle is not over.

“Eitan has returned, but that’s not enough. Only when the last hostage is home can we say we’ve fulfilled our mission and our moral duty,” they added.

The remains of 19 slain hostages have yet to be returned for burial by Hamas, in what Jerusalem has said is a breach of the terrorist group’s obligations to return all remains under the U.S.-brokered agreement.


Hostages Are Home…But the Next Battle Is Only Getting Started (w/John Spencer)
Israel’s fight against Hamas may be entering a new phase, but the war is far from over.

Doron Spielman, IDF spokesperson (Res.), is joined by one of the foremost authorities on modern combat: Colonel John Spencer. Spencer is the Executive Director of the Urban Warfare Institute and host of the “Urban Warfare Project Podcast.” Recently returned from Gaza City, where he was embedded with IDF units during what may have been the final day of major ground operations, Colonel Spencer offers a rare look at the complexities of Israel’s war and what comes next.

Together, they examine whether the IDF has truly achieved its goals, how urban combat in Gaza has redefined modern warfare and why the destruction of Hamas’s tunnels is essential for long-term peace. Spencer also shares his firsthand impressions of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan, which he believes marks a strategic turning point, not only for Israel, but for the region.

Drawing historical parallels from post-WWII Japan and Germany, Spencer explores how military victory is only the beginning, and that true success will depend on reeducation, de-radicalization and the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure. The conversation dives into the role of Arab and Muslim countries in post-war governance, the importance of international clarity and will and the dangers of a premature withdrawal.

CHAPTERS
00:00 – Intro: “It’s Not Over” – Israel’s War Enters a New Phase
03:25 – Colonel John Spencer on the Ground in Gaza
07:10 – Did the IDF Achieve Its Goals? Spencer’s Expert Take
12:35 – Hostages Released: Turning Point or Tactical Pause?
18:02 – Inside Trump’s 20-Point Plan for Peace
22:48 – Why Hamas Cracked: Military Pressure & Political Will
29:11 – Can You Really Defeat an Ideology? Post-War Challenges
34:44 – The Tunnel War: Why Hamas’s Underground Network Must Go
41:08 – Lessons from WWII: What Japan and Germany Teach Us About Gaza
47:56 – What’s Next for Israel, Gaza, and the Region?


Misgav: Ep. 14: What Happens Next in Gaza?
On this week’s episode of Mideast Horizons, Lahav and Asher speak with Prof. Kobi Michael, one of the world’s top experts on Israeli-Palestinian relations, who served as a founding Commander of the Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation apparatus. Prof. Michael, who today serves as a Senior Fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security, argues that Hamas’ DNA will not allow it to truly change, and that the terror group has no intention of demilitarizing. He presents a plan for establishing an alternative to Hamas in parts of Gaza, and for working with President Trump to ensure continued close U.S.-Israel cooperation even in the face of renewed terror activity in the Strip.

Prof. Michael also draws on his vast experience to analyze the challenges and threats likely to arise from the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) in the near future. He suggests potential paths forward toward realizing Palestinian national aspirations in a way that does not endanger the security of the State of Israel.

In the first segment, Lahav and Asher discuss overlooked aspects of President Trump’s speech to the Israeli Knesset, and of the “Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity” signed by the U.S., Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey at Sharm el-Sheikh. They analyze the current prospects for expanding the Abraham Accords and regional cooperation, including with Indonesia. They also explore the key issues and complexities that will arise in the upcoming stage of negotiations on Phase 2 of President Trump’s 20-point plan.


The Free Press: Hamas Violently Reasserts Control Over Gaza Strip
Amid the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, with Israeli troops withdrawn from parts of Gaza, Hamas has moved swiftly to reassert control over the Strip the only way it knows how: through brute force.

Through our partnership with Center for Peace Communications, we obtained exclusive testimony from Gaza residents who witnessed Hamas-perpetrated atrocities in recent days.


The Ask Project: Palestinians: Why do you think you are so special and can't make peace?

Call me Back Podcast: How the Gaza Deal Came Together, and What Comes Next? - with Ari Shavit
On Monday, October 13, all of the 20 living hostages were returned to Israel after two years in Hamas captivity. Only 4 of the 28 bodies of fallen hostages were also returned – constituting a breach of the ceasefire deal, which is supposed to see the return of all 48 hostages, living and dead. Israeli officials say they will continue to pressure Hamas until all its obligations under the deal are fulfilled.

Also on Monday, President Trump conducted a whirlwind visit to Israel, where he met with former hostages and families of hostages, and celebrated the conclusion of the war at the Knesset. In his hour-long speech, Trump showered extensive praise on US Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who pushed the deal across the finish line days earlier at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt. In the evening, President Trump departed from Israel and flew to Egypt, where he met with European, Arab, and Muslim leaders at the Sharm El-Sheikh “Peace Summit,” where he urged more countries to join the Abraham Accords.

On today’s episode, we are joined by Author and Journalist Ari Shavit, who has been closely following the making of the hostage-ceasefire deal. Ari and Dan discuss what happened behind the scenes that took us from the seemingly intractable situation of the past two years to suddenly seeing our hostages return and regional leaders, as well as President Trump, touting a new era of hope and peace.


Commentary Podcast: Trump's Not Fetishizing 'Peacemaking'
Donald Trump is telling Hamas to fulfill its end of the deal or he will tell Israel to go back in and go get the bodies of the hostages Hamas is still holding. He's continuing to use the threats of force to change the realities on the ground in ways that remain fresh and new. Meanwhile, American politicians are behaving badly on both sides of the aisle.
Mossad Spymaster Reveals the Truth About Espionage, Netanyahu, Pagers, Qatar and The Propaganda War
In this episode of The Brink, we sit down with Yossi Cohen, former Director of Mossad and one of the world’s most renowned spymasters. From leading the 2018 raid on Iran’s nuclear archive to brokering the Abraham Accords, Cohen has shaped some of the most pivotal moments in recent Middle Eastern history.

We discuss the art of intelligence, emotional control under extreme pressure, and the secrets behind Mossad’s most daring operations — including the legendary “booby-trapped pages” that crippled Hezbollah. Cohen also reflects on Israel’s intelligence failures before October 7th, his criticism of the country’s leadership culture, and whether he could one day step into politics himself.

This is a rare and candid conversation on espionage, leadership, and the moral choices that define the defence of Israel.




‘Pressure is on Hamas’: Cautious optimism surrounds peace deal
Former foreign minister Alexander Downer says pressure on Hamas is “intensifying”, crediting US President Donald Trump’s strong ties with Arab leaders.

“I’d be cautiously optimistic that … the peace process will roll out and the reason for that, the key to it has been President Trump’s relationship with Arab leaders,” Mr Downer told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“The pressure will be on Hamas coming from the Arab states, and I think it will become pretty intense, so you can be hopeful that will have some effect over time.”


Hamas will not ‘disarm or disappear’ during Israel’s ceasefire
The Australian’s Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan says Hamas is not going to disarm or disappear amid Israel’s ceasefire and hostage release deal.

“I am pretty pessimistic about the whole thing, really. Trump deserves a lot of credit for getting the ceasefire,” Mr Sheridan told Sky News host James Macpherson.

“But Hamas is not going to disarm, Hamas is not going to disappear.”


Tony Burke ‘lashes out’ at journalist over antisemitism report question
Sky News host Sharri Markson discusses Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke lashing out to a journalist for asking a question about their response to Jillian Siegel’s antisemitism report.

“Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke today lashed out at a journalist from The Australian,” Ms Markson said.

“When he dared to ask him about the government’s delayed response to Jillian Siegel’s antisemitism report.”


NSW court ‘gives in to hate’ by allowing pro-Palestine protests outside places of worship
Sky News host Sharri Markson discusses the New South Wales Supreme Court’s “outrageous” decision to allow activists to protest in front of places of worship.

“What rubbish, this is the court giving in to hate,” Ms Markson said.

“People have a right to protest, sure, and no one is stopping them, but it's about where they protest.

“Australians also have a right to religious freedom and to pray in safety.”




Western activists back Hamas executions, embrace ‘collaborator’ narrative
Western anti-Israel activists have increasingly come out in support of Hamas’s extrajudicial executions of Gazan dissidents in the wake of a ceasefire with Israel, casting those slain as traitors in a narrative that often calls for revenge for the death of pro-Hamas influencer Saleh Al-Jafarawi.

In the wake of the Friday ceasefire and partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from portions of Gaza, Hamas has mobilized forces to crack down on dissidents and opposition within. Antisemitism is at a record high. We're keeping our eyes on it >>

Clashes have erupted between Doghmush clan militiamen and Hamas operatives, with deaths on both sides. The terrorist organization has fought with factions of the Gazan clan before, such as in 2008. Now, Hamas is branding them and others as “collaborators” to justify executions.

Videos have circulated on Palestinian media of bound and kneeling men being shot dead in public execution ceremonies.

Gaza journalist Motasem A. Dalloul echoed Hamas’s assertions that these individuals were collaborators, but in a Tuesday X/Twitter post, he leveled a wide variety of charges against it, including stealing aid, attacking aid seekers, monopolizing goods, damaging medical aid, blackmail, kidnapping terrorists, and destabilizing the “internal front.”

The killings have received backing on social media, including from notable anti-Israel figures. UK National Health Service doctor, Rahmeh Aladwan, remarked that “every single one” of the “collaborators must face justice.”


Starmer: Sadiq Khan is wrong, ‘from the river to the sea’ is an antisemitic chant
Sir Keir Starmer has told the JC that he believes that the chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic.

The prime minister and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood visited CST in North London on Thursday morning where they announced an additional £10 million in funding to protect the Jewish community.

The funding will be dedicated to paying for more security staff and equipment around Jewish sites, such as CCTV, alarms and floodlights.

Speaking to the JC after the event, Starmer was asked whether he believed that the chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic, and the prime minister responded “yes”.

Challenged that his answer appeared to put him at odds with the Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan, who said last week that he did not, Starmer responded: “I take a strong view on this, and we've dealt with cases in my own party where people have used that expression and we've taken action against them.”

He added: “I'm not just saying it to you here today. That is the history, that is the record that I have as leader of my party.”

Starmer and Mahmood spoke to CST volunteers and Jewish communal leaders on Thursday morning and paid tribute to their heroism during the Heaton Park shul terror attack.

“It could have been even worse, and it was those volunteers that made sure that it wasn't, because they immediately deployed their skills, their training, their professionalism and their courage,” Starmer told the crowd.


Anti-Israel rioters break store windows, light fires as thousands march in Barcelona
Riots broke out in Barcelona on Wednesday as tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest Israel despite a ceasefire having been reached in Gaza days earlier.

At least 15 people were arrested, local newspaper La Vanguardia reported, citing Catalan police.

Trade unions had called for strikes of various lengths on Wednesday, accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in its military campaign against Hamas.

Fighting between Israel and the terror group stopped on Sunday, as part of a US-brokered deal to secure the return of 48 hostages — 20 of them alive — that were held in Gaza for two years after the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Some 15,000 people demonstrated in Barcelona on Wednesday, according to police, though organizers claimed 50,000 people took part.

During the day, protesters marched behind a banner reading: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will win!” The slogan refers to the entire country of Israel, in addition to Gaza and the West Bank.


Why Muslims reject Queers for Palestine and why Queers for Palestine rejects Israel
The presence of an openly gay protester on the latest Gaza flotilla raised hackles and open condemnation by Muslims on the journey, who abhorred the gay man’s sexuality as offensive to Islam.

Yet this is merely an unusually public exposure of the profound contradictions and hypocrisy of “Queers for Palestine” and other Western progressive causes that are openly disdained and even outlawed by Palestinians and hundreds of millions of other Muslims.

First, let’s be clear: Homosexuality is explicitly outlawed and severely punished, often by death, in Palestinian society, especially in Gaza.

How then can intelligent LGBTQ+ college students, as well as other varieties of progressive activists, in all good conscience support a movement that not only opposes one of their core lifestyle preferences, but that also regularly persecutes and even brutally kills them?

Unsurprisingly, these activists have an answer to this glaring dissonance: They are part of an “intersectional” coalition that objects above all to “massacre,” “genocide” and other manifestly false claims against Israel’s conduct of the Gaza war. Equally unsurprising, their explanations put them firmly in the category of “useful idiots” … only more so.

Perhaps the greater question is, how can advocates for Israel and the truth argue with the twisted “logic” of progressive support for repressive Muslim social and political values?

Why Muslim flotilla activists decried the presence of Saif Ayadi, an openly gay man, as offensive to Islam. Flotilla activist Mariem Meftah argues that exploiting the “holy cause of Al-Aksa” for unrelated ideological purposes contradicts Islamic values, while Samir Elwafi, another activist, asserted that “Palestine is first and foremost the cause of Muslims … why involve in it dubious activists serving other agendas … such as homosexuality.” Elwafi also remarked, “What do you expect an Arab Muslim to think when he hears the slogans of the ‘queer’ movement within a flotilla launched in the name of his most sacred and central cause, only to see it degraded in this way?” In other words, what passes for progressive sexual diversity means deviancy to most Muslims.

How LGBTQ+ support for “Palestine” is contradictory and hypocritical. Hard fact: According to the Pew Research Center, 93% of Palestinians oppose homosexuality, making them among the world’s most anti-LGBTQ+ people. Forbes also named “Palestine” as one of the worst “countries” in the world for LGBTQ+ travelers.

Muslim nations globally are almost equally intolerant. According to Equaldex (Equality Index), which measures the progress of LGBTQ+ rights, the Muslim Middle East, with a population of more than half a billion people, is the least LGBTQ+-friendly region in the world. Homosexuality is illegal in all but seven Muslim majority states, out of more than 50.




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