Thursday, October 30, 2025

10/30 Links Pt1: Amiram Cooper, Sahar Baruch identified as slain hostages returned to Israel; The War that Rewrote the Middle East; Italy blasts Francesca Albanese: “Entirely devoid of credibility and impartiality”

From Ian:

The War that Rewrote the Middle East
Over 24 months of sustained combat, Israel demonstrated an unexpected capacity for prolonged warfare - politically, economically, and psychologically. Moreover, the notion that Israel cannot wage war in more than two or three domains simultaneously was shown to be outdated, as it operated across seven domains: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Iran, and the West Bank, without losing strategic coherence. Israel ceased to behave like a besieged enclave and emerged as a regional power with expansive capabilities.

The war also destroyed the myth of sanctuary. From Tehran to Yemen and even Doha, Israel struck its enemies with ease and precision. The era of "safe havens" for planners and financiers of anti-Israel operations has ended.

In addition, the legend of underground invincibility collapsed. Iran, Hizbullah, and Hamas poured vast resources into subterranean networks they believed impregnable. Yet the killing of Hizbullah's Hassan Nasrallah in a fortified bunker last year put an end to this myth. The Israeli-American strikes on Iranian facilities also underscored that even the deepest tunnels and bunkers may no longer guarantee safety.

Under U.S. CENTCOM, several Arab militaries quietly joined missile-defense efforts against Iranian strikes, an event unthinkable prior to this war. The U.S., too, shifted from a passive supporter to an operational partner, with the alliance maturing into a working, action-based partnership reminiscent of U.S. relations with NATO members.
Israel Did What the U.S. Would Have Done Had a Genocidal Enemy Launched an Attack on Us
After two years of intense conflict, Israel is substantially better off than it was on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel confounded its mortal enemies by inflicting defeat after defeat on the revolutionary, virulently antisemitic Iranian regime and its primary surrogates - Hizbullah and Hamas.

Israel persevered heroically in defiance of the Biden administration's relentless pressure to restrain its response. The IDF waged a series of brilliant campaigns - decapitating, with surgical precision, Hizbullah's leadership; degrading its thousands of missiles; and devastating Iran's air defenses, thereby facilitating U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites that significantly set back its nuclear weapons program.

Israel also secured the return of the remaining hostages without sacrificing its prerogative to crush the unreconciled remnants of Hamas should they resume violence. The shock and awe of the IDF's military victory has incentivized more moderate Arab regimes to cooperate with Israel and abandon Hamas. Israel's resounding victories against Iranian proxies contributed mightily to the weakening of Assad's bloody tyranny in Syria.

The U.S. and its democratic allies are also substantially better off now that Israel has won its existential war against its genocidal adversaries. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed his gratitude for Israel's attacks on Iran: "This is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us....This regime has brought death and destruction to the world."

Thus, Israel did what I hope and pray the U.S. would have done had a genocidal enemy launched a proportionally equivalent attack on us - murdering 40,000 Americans; raping, torturing, and beheading victims; casting babies into ovens - without a shred of remorse. Surely we would and should have vanquished such a perpetrator, settling for nothing less than complete and utter destruction of the regime that perpetrated the attack - just as Churchill and FDR rightly did with Nazi Germany and Japan.

It is rank hypocrisy to begrudge the right of Israel to do what we and any other morally sane nation would have done in response to a comparable attack.

The great scholar of war Geoffrey Blainey instructs us in The Causes of War that the longest and most durable periods of peace occur when the results of war are most decisive, eliminating the root cause of the conflict. We ignore these lessons at our peril.
The Age of Amnesia By Abe Greenwald
Via Commentary Newsletter, sign up here.
Should JNIM capture Mali, add it to the list—along with Russia’s war on Ukraine, unprecedented aggression by Iranian proxies, and jihad throughout other West African countries—of nightmares made possible, in part, by Joe Biden’s catastrophic decision to surrender in Afghanistan.

But I’m beginning to think that Biden’s withdrawal was only a symptom of something much larger. Many dispiriting circumstances here and abroad—including this latest development in Mali—are pointing to an unavoidable realization. It’s beginning to seem as if the West (with the heroic exception of Israel) has forgotten everything about 9/11 and the nature of jihadists. And we’ve forgotten everything about the necessity of fighting terrorism except for one detail—it’s hard and unpleasant work.

You see it in the pro-jihad mobs that flooded through the United States over the past two years. You see it in the dilapidated polities of Europe, where Islamist thugs tyrannize by terrorist veto. You see it in Donald Trump’s encouragement of a new Syrian regime ruled by a former al-Qaeda fighter (this, too, was an inspiration to JNIM). And you can look back and see it in Trump’s first-term decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Somalia.

And, yes, this must be said: I can’t help seeing it right now in New York City. The city that was once devastated and traumatized by Islamist terrorists is about to elect as mayor a man with a long and loud record of support and sympathy for Islamist terrorism.

Twenty-four years after 9/11, the Taliban is in power, al-Qaeda is on the verge of state governance, terrorists are on the march, and their fans are everywhere—including, all too soon, in Gracie Mansion.


Amiram Cooper, Sahar Baruch identified as slain hostages returned to Israel
Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch were identified as the two slain Gaza hostages whose remains were returned by Hamas after over two years in captivity, the Prime Minister's Office and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum confirmed on Thursday night.

The remains of the two slain hostages were transferred into Israeli territory by the IDF and the Shin Bet on Thursday evening just before 5:30 p.m., the Prime Minister's Office said, and were identified at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine.

The Red Cross collected the remains of two hostages from Hamas and transferred them to the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).

This comes after Hamas stated that it would hand over the remains of two Gaza hostages at approximately 4 p.m. The IDF announced the handover at 4:46 p.m.

"We are determined to return all of our fallen hostages. If I'm not mistaken, we are receiving two more now – we will not rest until we bring them all home," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Thursday at an IDF combat officer graduation ceremony.

The Gaza terror organization claimed that it uncovered the remains of two hostages during excavations in Gaza City on Tuesday evening and named them in the announcement.
JPost Editorial: Israel must fight Hamas's weaponization of grief for political gain
The footage is a case study in the deliberate weaponization of grief. Killing is part of the battlefield’s horror. But to choreograph a burial and to simulate discovery in front of witnesses is to turn a human life and a human death into a prop. That is psychological warfare by design.

It is a performance intended to confuse, to control the narrative, to demonstrate power over the body of a man who was already stripped of freedom, dignity, and, ultimately, life.

A hostage is never only a prisoner. A hostage carries a family’s hope, a community’s ache, and a country’s promise that it will do everything to bring people home. To stage a burial and a recovery is to instrument human remains as a message. Israel should name this clearly: cruelty dressed up as strategy.

Our obligations remain even in war. Israel does not deny the conflict’s terrible costs in Gaza and in Israel. But there has to be a baseline: the dignity of the person; the sanctity of the hostage; the duty to preserve humanity – even when choices are hard and imperfect.

This should be troubling not only for Israelis. Parliaments that invoke human rights, advocacy groups that issue daily statements, and international bodies that count civilian harm should call out what the video depicts. The point is not to pretend the fog of war does not exist.

For Israel, the obligations are also operational. Families deserve more than solidarity. They deserve action that is steady and unsentimental, including intelligence work that maps likely burial sites, rescue when possible, negotiation when necessary, and unrelenting pressure on the perpetrators and their chain of command.

There is no moral equivalence here. On one side stands a state trying, however imperfectly, to protect its civilians, return its captives, and honor its dead within law. On the other side stands a terrorist organization that calibrates cruelty to communications goals: the white bag, the shovel, the performative reveal. These are not just images. They are indictments.

Let this, finally, be clarifying. The families have asked for clarity and action. The country should match them with focus and resolve.

Continue the search with professionalism. Keep the channels open when they produce results, and shut them when they are abused. Press the case with allies and mediators, using facts, not only fury. And insist that those who turned a grave into a set be named, sanctioned, and judged.

Israel fights to survive. It should also fight to live by a standard that refuses to let any person, under any circumstances, become a staged corpse in the service of terrorism.
Twin of soldier Hadar Goldin, killed in Gaza in 2014, has hopes for his return, even as Hamas stalls
Tzur Goldin, 34, the twin brother of Hadar Goldin, a Givati Brigade officer killed in combat in 2014 whose body is still held captive in Gaza, said he is guardedly optimistic that his brother’s body will be released during the current ceasefire, even with the recent violations committed by Hamas.

Alongside the hostages captured on October 7, Hamas also holds the body of Goldin and is required to return it under the terms of the truce. But so far, the terror group has been stalling.

“We’re hopeful,” said Goldin in an interview with The Times of Israel. “We believe [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff, mainly Witkoff and the administration. We’ve had signals from them and [US Secretary of State Marco] Rubio that they have made a full commitment to enforce what they announced, which is to secure the release of all the hostages.”

“The White House wants the peace process in the Middle East,” said Goldin. “They want to get from stage A to stage B.”

According to the ceasefire deal that went into effect on October 10, Hamas was committed to returning all remaining hostages, the living and the fallen captives.

All 20 living hostages were released on October 13, followed by the slow, protracted release of, so far, 15 of the 28 bodies of deceased hostages held in Gaza.


Warfare expert calls Gaza rebuilding plan 'Disneyland strategy' to defeat Hamas
John Spencer, executive director of the Urban Warfare Institute, described the plan to divide Gaza into two distinct zones — one under Israeli control and the other under Hamas — allowing rebuilding only on the Israeli side both a "practical and psychological test, a way to show Gazans what life could look like without Hamas."

Spencer used the term "Disneyland strategy" to describe the concept, which he said was drawn from U.S. counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq.

"You take any piece of the problem — here we’re talking about terrain — and you clear out all the bad: Hamas, tunnels, weapons, everything," he said. "Then you let civilians in, and you build something new — markets, buildings, schools, electricity. We called it Disneyland because we wanted it to look like hope — like the future."

He said the idea follows the "clear, hold, build" model used in Iraq and Afghanistan, where troops secured neighborhoods one by one.

"In Ramadi, we did it neighborhood by neighborhood until we covered the whole city," he said. "You hold it, clear it, let the locals take over. It’s historically proven. You don’t have to rid Gaza of Hamas to start this."

The goal, Spencer said, is to give Gazans — and the world — a tangible glimpse of life without Hamas.

"You build a little piece of goodness, a little Disneyland, to show everybody what’s possible," he said. "It would also show the countries that are going to provide stabilization forces something they could be doing — stabilizing cleared areas that don’t have Hamas in them."

Still, he cautioned the concept is no silver bullet.

"You will have areas on the other side of the line where Hamas thinks they have control," he said. "Building something without Hamas is as important to defeating Hamas as it is to showing people there’s a future."

Inside Hamas-controlled Gaza, fear still defines daily life.

"Since the start of the ceasefire, we are terrified," one resident told Fox News Digital, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

"We don’t want to stay under Hamas. It’s very terrifying for us to hear that Jared Kushner said reconstruction will only take place in the areas Hamas does not control. Trump and Netanyahu said Hamas will end, but look what’s happening. They are back, stronger, and we are still trapped.


Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians Still Prefer Hamas and 'Armed Struggle' Against Israel
These [Palestinian poll] findings contradict claims by some Western media outlets that a growing number of Palestinians were disillusioned with Hamas because of the death and destruction it has brought on its people as a result of its October 7 attack.

"The conclusion from these [Palestinian] numbers is that the past two years have led to greater support for Hamas rather than the opposite," according to the poll.

Asked if Hamas had committed the atrocities seen in the videos shown by international media displaying atrocities committed by Hamas members against Israeli civilians, 86% said the terror group did not commit such atrocities. Only 10% said Hamas did commit them.

A majority of Palestinians, the poll showed, are extremely supportive of Iran, Hezbollah, Qatar and the Houthi militia in Yemen, a terror group that fired dozens of missiles and suicide drones at Israel during the war.

If elections for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority (PA) were held today, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal would win 63% of the votes, as opposed to 27% for incumbent PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

According to the poll, dissatisfaction with Abbas stands at 75%, while 80% want him to resign.

If parliamentary elections were held today, 44% of the Palestinians say they will vote for Hamas, 30% for Fatah, and 10% for third parties.

Also unexpected is the ongoing Palestinian support for the "armed struggle" (terrorism) against Israel.

The results of the poll also show the challenges facing the implementation of the Trump plan, especially disarming Hamas and deradicalizing Palestinian society. Most Palestinians are openly opposed to disarming Hamas – a situation that will make it effectively impossible for any Arab or foreign party to confiscate the terror group's weapons by force.

Any Palestinian or Arab leader who sees that most Palestinians oppose the disarmament of Hamas will think twice before he undertakes such a mission: he would not want to act against the wishes of the Arab street -- such a move would be regarded as treason.

As for deradicalization, it is clear from the poll that Palestinians are moving in the opposite direction.
An International Force from Arab Countries Will Not Fight Against Hamas in Gaza
"Hamas, as an Islamic jihadist movement, will not voluntarily lay down its arms because that would be tantamount to erasing its identity, Dr. Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, said in an interview.

The only possibility, he said, is for the IDF to make it do so.

"Anyone who thinks that soldiers from the Gulf states or any other Arab country will fight against Hamas terrorists is living in another universe."

"In the Arab and Islamic world, written agreements are not worth much....Hamas, together with Turkey and Qatar - the two sponsors of the Muslim Brotherhood - have plans for its continued survival."

"Turkey and Qatar are determined to continue supporting Hamas behind the scenes and restore its rule."

"This is a jihadist organization that lives solely to destroy its enemies: the State of Israel and the Jewish people."
Senior journalist fired from Haaretz for earning NIS 200,000 from Qatargate suspect
Prominent journalist Chaim Levinson has been dismissed from his position at the Haaretz newspaper after it emerged he earned at least NIS 200,000 ($61,000) from consultant Yisrael “Srulik” Einhorn, one of several aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspected of illicit ties to Qatar.

Levinson, who has called the allegations in the so-called Qatargate affair “inflated,” apologized for failing to provide full disclosure, but denied working for the Gulf state, a key backer of Hamas, which mediated the Gaza ceasefire along with Egypt and the US.

Haaretz, which broke the Qatargate story last November, reported Thursday that Levinson, 41, was contracted by Einhorn’s Perception consultancy from 2019 to 2024 to ghostwrite material for election campaigns in the Balkans, where Einhorn is an adviser to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

For part of the time, Levinson was Haaretz’s political correspondent and Einhorn was an election campaign manager for Netanyahu’s Likud party.

Levinson interviewed Einhorn at least twice for Haaretz, once for a 2019 article on the Likud campaign, and again at the 2022 Haaretz Democracy Conference, the newspaper said. The journalist has frequently expressed skepticism of the Qatargate charges, the newspaper noted.

Levinson, who spent 17 years at the left-leaning newspaper, had previously disclosed having a personal, but not business, relationship with Einhorn. He failed to disclose his business ties to Einhorn even after fellow Haaretz reporter Bar Peleg broke the Qatargate story, the newspaper said in a statement on Thursday.

Peleg, who also reported Levinson’s dismissal Thursday, had “a few days ago” received “material indicating commercial ties” between Levinson and Perception, Haaretz said.

Levinson was subsequently summoned to a meeting with Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn, who told Levinson that the new information “would not enable him to continue in the newspaper,” Haaretz said.


UN Official Cites Dozens of Countries Complicit in Israel's Actions in Gaza
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon accused UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese of spreading Hamas propaganda following her report accusing Israel of human rights violations and criticizing the international support Israel receives.

Albanese's report listed dozens of countries she claims are complicit in Israel's actions. The U.S., UK, Germany, Hungary and others were accused of backing Israel diplomatically or militarily. Canada, Australia and New Zealand were singled out for trying to "weaken" UN resolutions critical of Israel, while France, Italy, Croatia and Greece were criticized for allowing Prime Minister Netanyahu to fly through their airspace despite an ICC arrest warrant.

The report rebuked several Arab and Muslim-majority nations - including Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan and the UAE - for supporting U.S. President Trump's peace plan. Albanese accused China, India, Taiwan, Austria, Spain and France of supplying weapons during what she labeled an "ongoing genocide."

A separate list included nations indirectly transferring arms through joint military programs, including F-35 participants such as the U.S., UK, Germany, Japan, and South Korea. Ireland and Morocco were cited for allowing weapons transfers via their airports, and the Philippines, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Sweden and Vietnam were criticized for continuing to buy Israeli weapons technology. Albanese also claimed the UN itself had purchased equipment from Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems.
Italy blasts Francesca Albanese: “Entirely devoid of credibility and impartiality”
During the presentation of Francesca Albanese’s one-sided anti-Israel report at the UN General Assembly, Italy slammed Albanese despite her being a citizen of the country, calling her report “entirely devoid of credibility and impartiality” while adding that “Ms. Albanese cannot be considered impartial.”

Full Statement:
Thank you, Mr Chair. If we are cut off, Italy will deposit the full text.

The report presented today by Special Rapporteur Albanese is entirely devoid of credibility and impartiality. As Italy, we are not surprised.

The content of the report blatantly exceeds the specific mandate of the Special Rapporteur, which does not include investigations into alleged violations committed by other States or entities, nor judgements on cooperation between third countries and the ICC.

Even more concerning is the complete disregard – in particular during the last months – for the code of conduct for Special Rapporteurs, which includes common sense principles such as integrity, impartiality and good faith. These are not optional; they are the foundation of any credible report, of the implementation of the mandate and of the United Nations itself.

The code of conduct calls on Rapporteurs to “ensure that their personal political opinions are without prejudice to the execution of their mission” and to “show restraint, moderation and discretion so as not to undermine the recognition of the independent nature of their mandate”.

There is ample evidence on-line and in her interviews that, as Special Rapporteur, Ms. Albanese cannot be considered impartial. At a recent public event in Italy she even seemed to be questioning a statement by the local mayor calling for the release of Israeli hostages.

Faced with a document lacking credibility, in particular on impartiality, we have chosen not to comment on the report. We will not do so today either.


Hillel Neuer Recommends Democratic Nations Fight Back at the UN
Governments and activists use the United Nations to gain legitimacy for their agendas. Hillel Neuer of UN Watch argues that dictatorships go further by “hijacking” UN bodies, and that the U.S. should work to prevent this predictable and predatory practice.

Neuer leads UN Watch in Geneva and since 2009 chairs the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, a coalition of 25 NGOs that elevates dissidents from oppressive regimes.

UN Geneva gives NGOs a microphone. “In Geneva, we are on the ice,” Neuer says. “We invite champions of human rights—people just out of prison in China, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Iran—and we bring them to confront their oppressors.” The Geneva Summit extends that platform each February, where UN Watch has hosted figures such as Rebiya Kadeer, Nury Turkel, Chen Guangcheng, and young activists speaking for imprisoned parents.

China’s posture at the UN, Neuer says, transformed over 20 years. “When I arrived some 21 years ago, China played a long game, cautious, not overly ambitious. Today it ambitiously seeks to exercise substantial power by taking over key UN agencies.” He points to leadership captures at technical bodies and to pressure campaigns that steer votes and agendas.

The World Health Organization is at the center of his critique. “During Covid, the director general parroted the Chinese regime’s line,” he says. “His predecessor from Hong Kong is China’s candidate.” He adds, “Taiwan is denied credentials to the World Health Assembly,” despite its health capacity. Even soft-power levers matter, he says. “WHO goodwill ambassadors include figures tied to Chinese state propaganda … they use the imprimatur to push Beijing’s narrative.”

Influence often runs through deals and threats, according to Neuer. “China approaches states and says, ‘vote for our guy,’ and there will be investment, trade, maybe a paved road,” he says. “If a country signs a statement criticizing abuses, a major order gets canceled the next day.” He cites letters warning ambassadors to skip side events on Uyghur repression. “If you go to that event, you’re in big trouble.”


Netanyahu: Israel will disarm Hamas and demilitarize Gaza if foreign troops don’t
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Thursday that Hamas will be disarmed and the Gaza Strip demilitarized, asserting that if the international community doesn’t do it, then Israel will.

Netanyahu’s comments came even as the US continues to lead efforts to put together a force that will be both willing to see through the disarmament mission and be acceptable to Israel, which continues to insist on excluding Turkey, which is keen to participate.

Israel “has more work” to do in Gaza, Netanyahu said, speaking at an Israel Defense Forces cadets’ graduation ceremony at the Bahad 1 officers’ school in southern Israel.

“At the end of the day, Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized,” he promised. “If foreign troops do it, great. If they don’t do it, we will.”

Violations of the US-brokered ceasefire that halted the war in Gaza will be met with “powerful attacks,” he said of the truce, which has at times unraveled only to be stitched back together amid strong pressure from Washington that it hold up. A second stage of the US plan, dealing with the longer-term future of Gaza, calls for Hamas to disarm and the territory to be demilitarized, under the supervision of an international military force.
Hamas given 24 hours to withdraw from IDF's Yellow Line in Gaza, US officials tell 'Post'
A US official told The Jerusalem Post that mediators informed Hamas to withdraw from behind the Yellow Line before Thursday evening, otherwise the IDF would strike.

"Last night, Hamas was notified through Egypt and Qatar that they had 24 hours to evacuate their terrorists from the area behind the yellow line currently being held by the IDF," the source said.

"That 24-hour window expired at 8 p.m. local time, at which point Israel will enforce the ceasefire and engage Hamas targets behind the yellow line. This guidance was issued with approval from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar," the source stressed.

Recovering the remains of deceased hostages
Hamas had previously crossed past the Yellow Line with the permission of Israeli authorities, and in coordination with the Red Cross, to recover the bodies of hostages.

Hamas also failed to release all the deceased hostages in a single release during the early stages of the ceasefire, and Israeli officials have claimed Hamas is deliberately delaying the return of the deceased.

"There is little pressure on the organization from the mediators to release more hostages, and some of the bodies are located in places that will make a swift return difficult," an Israeli official told The Post. "We still have leverage to apply pressure on the organization to return the hostages, and there are two more hostages we believe they can return immediately. Still, there is concern that we may see another situation where days go by without any bodies being returned."
Less than half of Israelis believe Hamas will relinquish control of the Gaza Strip
Less than half of Israelis believe that Hamas is likely to relinquish control of the Gaza Strip and hand power over to a multinational ruling body, a survey conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute revealed on Monday.

The survey asked over 700 Jewish and Arab Israelis over the age of 18 a variety of questions regarding the end of the Israel-Hamas War, the ongoing release of hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza, and the United States-brokered Gaza deal.

According to the study, two-thirds of the sampled participants thought that there is a “low likelihood that the next stage of the agreement, which includes distancing Hamas from control of Gaza and establishing a multinational ruling body, will be implemented soon.”

Jewish Israeli participants, 72.5% held this doubt, while only 37% of Arab Israelis shared the same low expectation.

A deal could have been reached sooner
A majority of surveyed Arab and Jewish individuals agreed across demographics that a similar ceasefire-hostage deal could have been reached earlier in the war.

Within the Jewish Israeli demographic, however, there were large discrepancies between political groups. 93% of left-leaning Jews responded that a similar deal could have been reached earlier, while only 44% of right-leaning Jews shared the sentiment.


Honest Reporting: The Humanitarian Deception: When Aid Groups Echo Hamas’ Propaganda
From a young age, we are told that there is an objective truth from authority figures and humanitarian organizations. All the more so when those organizations are supposedly committed to helping broader society. But what happens when those organizations turn a blind eye to crimes committed by terrorists and the media continues to treat their statements as unquestionable fact?

Several humanitarian organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and Doctors Without Borders, all claim to serve society and are reportedly dedicated to helping ordinary civilians in Gaza.

Yet, throughout the Israel-Hamas war, all three so-called humanitarian organizations have aided in spreading libels while amplifying Hamas’ propaganda. It is bad enough to assist in Hamas’ propaganda war; even worse, the media has been consistently taking the statements from these organizations at face value, without doing their own due diligence to determine the objective truth.

The Complicity of the ICRC
Perhaps the worst case study of this halo effect is the ICRC’s complicity in Hamas’ “recovery” of a deceased hostage’s body.

In the now viral footage, Hamas terrorists can be seen bringing a body bag out of a residential building, dumping the body in a pit, and burying it with dirt. Hamas then called the Red Cross to come and witness the so-called “retrieval” of the hostage’s body. While the ICRC claims to take “action, not sides,” there was no clearer side taken than the objective complicity in this incident as staff members looked on, watching Hamas terrorists in the cruel performative act of covering and uncovering the body.

The Red Cross later issued a statement, condemning Hamas for staging the discovery of the body. Criticizing Hamas would have hit much harder had the Red Cross not been present at this sick stunt in the first place.

Incredibly, as Hamas terrorists unlawfully held Israeli hostages for two years, the Red Cross did not make any visit, despite the public knowledge that many of the hostages required immediate and proper medical treatment. But when Hamas turned hostage releases into a circus during the January 2024 ceasefire or staged a body retrieval, the Red Cross was the first on site. It has gone beyond willful ignorance, crossing into complicity in Hamas crimes.


Terrorist freed in Gaza deal rearrested for bomb plot
Israeli authorities have rearrested a Palestinian terrorist released from prison a few months ago as part of a hostage deal with Hamas, the Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit said on Thursday. He was taken into custody on suspicion of bomb-making.

Detectives from the Judea District Crime Fighting Unit and National Counterterrorism Unit officers from the Shai (Judea and Samaria) District raided his Bethlehem home on Wednesday night and detained him for questioning.

The terrorist was initially arrested about a year ago after being caught with 25 explosive devices that he had made and supplied to terror operatives, prompting a major criminal investigation, according to the statement.

In exchange for releasing hostages kidnapped during the Hamas-led attack on the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023, Jerusalem has let thousands of Palestinian security prisoners go free, including some convicted of mass-casualty terror attacks.

According to Palestinian Media Watch, an Israel-based media research institute, 160 of the 250 Palestinian terrorists released as part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Hamas that began Oct. 10 became millionaires during their incarceration via the Palestinian Authority’s “pay-for-slay” program. Total payments to the group by the P.A. amounted to at least 229.5 million shekels, excluding family stipends that likely raised the figure further, according to PMW.


Seth Frantzman: Lebanon demands Israeli strikes stop, but does not address Hezbollah disarmament
Lebanon wants Israel’s continued airstrikes to stop. Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire last November after the IDF dealt Hezbollah serious blows.

The ceasefire is ostensibly between Israel and Lebanon, and this covers Hezbollah, because it should mean that Israel’s airstrikes stop. Israel has asserted, however, that it has a right to continue striking Hezbollah.

Tensions are escalating.

“Lebanese President Joseph Aoun instructed the army on Thursday to confront any Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon after Israeli forces crossed the border overnight and killed a municipal employee, despite a US-brokered ceasefire,” Reuters reported.

The main reason the airstrikes are continuing is to prevent Hezbollah from regrowing its tentacles in Lebanon. The airstrikes likely also can pressure Lebanon to finally rein in Hezbollah and disarm it.

There was optimism this past spring that Lebanon would do the right thing. The new president, Aoun, and the new prime minister, Nawaf Salam, have appeared to want to disarm Hezbollah.

They talk a good game, and they have regional support to disarm the group as well. Arab states such as Saudi Arabia would like to see Hezbollah’s power reduced.

The problem with Aoun and Salam, however, is that they have been involved in Lebanese politics and affairs for decades. They are creatures of the state.

This means that even though they may want to do the right thing, they aren’t yet able to think outside the box. In essence, they grew up with Hezbollah having an illegal terrorist army controlling part of Lebanon as a norm, and they can’t see a way forward.


IDF troops raid southern Lebanon town before dawn, kill municipal employee
Israeli troops raided a town in southern Lebanon overnight and killed a municipal worker who was sleeping in the municipality building, Lebanese state media said Thursday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the incident, saying it had opened fire on a suspect during an operation to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure in the town of Blida.

Following the incident, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday instructed the commander of the army to “confront any Israeli incursion” into southern Lebanon.

According to Lebanon’s official National News Agency, IDF troops entered Blida at around 1:30 a.m. with several military vehicles and stormed the town hall.

At the municipality building, the troops killed Ibrahim Salameh, an employee who had been sleeping there, the report said. The Israeli soldiers withdrew at around 4 a.m., and the Lebanese army later entered the town hall and recovered the municipal worker’s body, NNA added.

The IDF said that during the raid, troops identified a suspect in a building and began a “suspect arrest procedure.”

“Once an immediate threat to the soldiers was identified, [the troops] opened fire to remove the threat, and a hit was identified,” the IDF said.

The military said the shooting was under further investigation.

The municipal building, according to the IDF, was recently exploited by Hezbollah for “terror activity under the guise of civilian infrastructure.”


The Free Press: Will the Ceasefire Collapse?
Just over two weeks ago, Israel and Hamas agreed to a historic ceasefire that—after two years of war—brought home the remaining living Israeli hostages from Gaza. Donald Trump repeatedly hailed it as the end of the war and the dawn of a new Middle East.

In the weeks since, Hamas has violated the deal multiple times, and on Tuesday, Israel responded with renewed strikes in Gaza.

Is the ceasefire durable—or about to unravel? And will the war between Hamas and Israel truly end?


Call me Back: The Perfect Storm - with Benjamin Birely
Benjamin Birely, a classical historian and the influencer behind HolyLandSpeaks, joins Dan to discuss why being a Jew in Italy these days is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. From signs outside businesses decrying that “Zionists are not welcome,” to Jewish academics being pushed out of the public sphere, to cultural events getting hijacked by the anti-Israel cause, the entire country seems to be consumed by militant anti-Zionism. Should Italian Jew be worried for their future? And what does this tell us about the broader political mood in the West?


Joseph Cohen: On antisemitism, politics, and Israel
Michael Starr, JPost's antisemitism and diaspora affairs correspondent sits down with Joseph Cohen, Founder of the Israel Advocacy Movement to discuss the current rise in antisemitism, how it ties into both British and Israeli politics, and living in Israel.




Vance tells anti-Israel student Trump secured Gaza deal by using ‘leverage’ on Jerusalem
US Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that President Donald Trump was able to secure the current Gaza deal because he used “leverage” over Israel.

The assertion was a relatively rare boast by a Trump official of the power imbalance between the US and Israel and appeared to undercut efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push back on criticism that Washington is dictating the manner in which Israel can uphold the ceasefire in Gaza.

It also came in response to a question that accused Israel and the Jews of working to undermine the US and Christianity, highlighting a growing animosity to the Jewish state by young US conservatives.

“The most recent Gaza peace plan that all of us have been working on very hard for the past few weeks — the president of the United States could only get that peace deal done by actually being willing to apply leverage to the State of Israel,” Vance told students at the University of Mississippi where he was participating in a campus tour organized by the recently killed, right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point organization.

Vance’s framing of the dynamic between the US and Israel came in response to a question by a Christian-identifying member of the audience who wanted to know why there is the “notion that we might have owe Israel something.”

The student incorrectly quoted Kirk as having accused Israel of “ethnically cleansing Gaza” and said he didn’t understand why the US should be providing foreign aid to Israel, “considering the fact that not only does their religion not agree with ours, but also openly supports the prosecution of ours.”

The question was met with applause from the packed student hall at the University of Mississippi, highlighting the existence of a small but growing number of younger conservatives in the US who hold animosities toward both Israel and Jews — something Vance notably avoided calling out directly.


The troubling case of Amer Ghalib: Trump's Kuwait pick raises red flags
This refusal is just one red flag among many when it comes to Ghalib. He has reportedly denied Hamas’s sexual violence during the October 7 attacks, describing these documented atrocities as “a campaign of lies and deception.” This alone should disqualify him.

Then there’s the bizarre spectacle of a nominee for Kuwait ambassador praising Saddam Hussein, who invaded Kuwait, as a “martyr.” When confronted, Ghalib claimed it was said “in a moment of anger” and that Hussein’s “only positive thing” was keeping Iran in check. Imagine explaining that reasoning to Kuwaitis who lived through the invasion.

Ghalib’s record includes referring to the Muslim Brotherhood as “an inspiration” and reportedly expressing support for Houthi attacks on commercial shipping. He has defended “liking” social media posts comparing Jews to monkeys as a “bad habit” of acknowledging all comments. And as mayor of Hamtramck, he presided over the city becoming the first in America to adopt Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions policies targeting Israel.

What’s particularly striking is how this nomination has united senators across the political spectrum in opposition. Ted Cruz, one of President Trump’s strongest supporters, bluntly stated that Ghalib’s “long-standing position is directly contrary to that of the president” and that he would not support the nomination.

Transcending politics
I understand the political calculus here. Ghalib’s endorsement of President Trump helped secure critical support in Michigan’s Arab-American communities during the election. Politics is politics. Yet diplomatic appointments must transcend campaign considerations.

America’s ambassadors represent our values abroad. They embody our commitments to our allies and our stance against extremism. They speak for all Americans, not just particular constituencies.

The Senate should reject this nomination, and President Trump should select someone who can credibly represent the United States in Kuwait: someone who can acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, who unequivocally condemns terrorism, and who hasn’t praised the dictator who once invaded the country where he seeks to serve.

I’ve spent my career fighting against double standards applied to Israel and the Jewish people. The idea that Israel’s Jewish character is uniquely problematic while religious identity is accepted elsewhere is wrong and dangerous. It undermines the fundamental legitimacy of the Jewish state and gives cover to those who seek to isolate Israel.

America deserves better than an ambassador who embodies this double standard. Kuwait deserves better. And yes, President Trump deserves better representation abroad than Mr. Ghalib would provide.

The question isn’t complicated: If dozens of Muslim states are acceptable, if Christian state churches are traditional, then why is one Jewish state too many for Mr. Ghalib to acknowledge? His dodging and silence speak volumes.
Ilhan Omar sent campaign funds to alleged ‘Terrorist University’ tied to anti-Israel nonprofit
The campaign for “Squad” Rep. Ilhan Omar recently sent over a thousand dollars to a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that partnered with a Palestinian university with alleged terrorist ties, according to new Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by Fox News Digital.

The Palestine House of Freedom, also known by its Arabic name, “Dar Alhurriya,” is a nonprofit headquartered just blocks from the U.S. Capitol building.

According to a video on the group’s website, it is “dedicated to the liberation of Palestine” and “the dismantling of apartheid in Palestine and the establishment of a free, democratic state from the river to the sea.”

The group’s website emphasizes that Israel is “operating as an apartheid state.” The website further states that its mission is to “embark on an aggressive educational campaign targeting everyone from lawmakers, staffers, the media, to the general public” to “show how dismantling apartheid and establishing a free democratic Palestine from the River to the Sea with equal rights, is the path to peace and will benefit all parties involved.”

The filings show that Omar’s campaign, Ilhan for Congress, sent $1,559.25 to the anti-Israel Palestine House of Freedom for “event tickets” in September. However, it is unclear which event the payments were for.




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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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