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Tuesday, November 04, 2025

11/04 Links Pt1: Israel identifies remains of Israeli-American Itay Chen; The Strategic Fruits of Israel's Military Victory; How the ICJ works as Hamas’s partner in crime

From Ian:

The Strategic Fruits of Israel's Military Victory
The fact that for the first time the Arab Middle East and Turkey have come together to force Israel's enemy to lay down its arms is a sign of a major sea change. It may not be a sign that everyone loves Israel, but it is a sign of respect that Israel has earned through its two-year war with Hamas. Rather than turning the Jewish state into a global pariah, the war has reaffirmed its international standing. Israel had finished its greatest comeback from pain, adversity, and existential danger since the Yom Kippur War.

Israel not only recovered its strength and spirit, but brought the war directly to its enemies with a finality that had been lacking in previous conflicts. In less than two years, Israel managed to break the backs of both Hamas and Hizbullah, and quieted the West Bank. It broke the grip these terrorist regimes had held over both Lebanon and Syria, ending the encirclement by hostile neighbors Israel had faced since 1948. Most importantly, Israel shattered the power of the terrorist groups' main supporter, Iran.

Once again, Israel proved that the IDF is a fighting force without equal. The men and women of the IDF displayed unquestionable skill and professionalism in battle, as well as humanity in dealing with a fanatical enemy. All this, while defying the overwhelming weight of contrary world opinion, even from the U.S. and the Biden administration. The story of how Israel transformed the Middle East after Oct. 7 also contains a valuable lesson for the rest of the West, on how to confront its critics and enemies.
There Will Be No Phase B of Ceasefire Plan in Gaza
The fighting in Gaza has subsided, but the war has not ended. The implementation of Phase B of the ceasefire agreement depends on three miracles: the disarmament of Hamas, the establishment of a non-Hamas Palestinian government to administer Gaza, and the deployment of an international force to maintain order.

But who exactly is supposed to disarm Hamas? The Lebanese precedent teaches us that contrary to the hopes and illusions underpinning the ceasefire agreement signed in Nov. 2024, Hizbullah has shown no willingness to even consider disarmament. Lebanon's government and army are neither willing nor able to compel it to do so. In Gaza, Hamas has declared that it will not disarm. After all, Hamas did not fight for two years only to simply surrender and vanish.

It is now evident that Phase B of the agreement will not materialize, that Hamas will refuse to disarm, and that no international force will enter Gaza to confront it.
The Fall of Hamas in Gaza Begins
On Sep. 15, 2025, ordinary Gazans refused to obey Hamas. Instead, they listened to the IDF's evacuation instructions. Around 800,000 residents of northern Gaza gathered their belongings and walked south as instructed. Hamas tried to stop them with threats and violence, but failed.

Since that day, Hamas has ceased to function as a unified military or governing force. What remains is a collection of scattered, semi-independent cells clinging to the remnants of a once-organized army. The IDF has systematically eliminated most of Hamas's senior and mid-level commanders, leaving the group without strategic leadership or coordination. The mass public executions of alleged collaborators in October 2025 was a show of desperation disguised as strength.

As Hamas's power structure erodes, a political shift is emerging. Ten major clans across Gaza are cautiously but increasingly challenging Hamas's authority. None of these clans possess the military strength to overthrow Hamas on their own. Yet their existence as armed, organized communities with their own interests and leadership represents a serious crack in the system of fear and blind obedience that Hamas built over the years.

The ceasefire violations are isolated acts by local commanders trying to prove that they still have power and relevance. There is no longer a unified military council or strategic command. What remains is inertia, a chaotic pattern of violence driven by habit rather than strategy.

Hamas is at its weakest point since its creation. Its leadership has been eliminated or forced into hiding. Its military power is exhausted, its finances depleted, and its civilian support fading fast. Now is the time to dismantle what remains of its terror network, to remove Turkey and Qatar from the equation, and to secure American backing to prevent Hamas from ever rebuilding. Waiting for the usual cycle of diplomatic negotiations would mean wasting this opportunity and returning to a state of perpetual threat.
Taking Hostages Turned Out to Be Hamas's Undoing
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas dragged 251 hostages into Gaza. The terrorists apparently believed that the taking of hostages and accompanying psychological warfare would force Israel to capitulate, leaving Hamas victorious. Yet the hostage-taking transformed the moral landscape in ways Hamas failed to anticipate.

While hostages remained in Gaza, it was no longer reasonable for international leaders to demand that Israel stop military operations. How could the world ask a nation to abandon its citizens to captivity while letting Hamas hostage-takers and torturers continue to hold them?

True, a politicized battery of UN organizations engineered a massive disinformation campaign, demonizing Israel as it waged a just war by just means. And weak leaders in the UK, France, Australia and Canada succumbed to local and international propaganda, demanding that Israel stop defending itself and rewarding Palestinian terrorism by recognizing a Palestinian state. That appeasement prevented an earlier hostage release deal and prolonged the war.

The hostage-taking prevented the conflict from dissolving into the traditional false narratives about "occupation," "resistance" and "apartheid." Many saw the truth - innocent people being held hostage by a genocidal terrorist organization committed to murdering Jews. The hostage-taking provided a broadly recognized imperative that eventually overcame the propaganda.

The hostage-taking ironically gave Israel the time and space it needed to degrade the terrorist organization drastically. The job isn't finished, but Israel stands stronger than ever.


Israel identifies remains of Israeli-American Itay Chen
Israel identified the remains of Israeli-American Itay Chen, a staff sergeant in the Israel Defense Forces, whom Hamas terrorists killed in battle at Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7 and whose the Jewish state recovered from Hamas on Tuesday.

The terror organization held Chen’s body in Gaza for more than two years.

“Finally, Itay’s body can be laid to rest and his family can have a sliver of peace after this nightmare,” stated Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). The senator thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for securing the release of all the American hostages.

Hamas continues to hold the bodies of Israelis it killed in violation of an agreement brokered by Washington.

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) stated that she is “relieved to hear that Israeli-American Itay Chen’s remains have been returned to Israel more than two years after he was murdered by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.”

“I met many times with Itay’s family, who tirelessly advocated for his return, and the return of all hostages still in Gaza,” wrote Rosen, who is Jewish. “This family has endured profound grief over the past two years, and my thoughts are with them as their son finally comes home for a proper burial.”

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) wrote that he is “grateful that the Chen family will finally have closure after enduring pain and heartache for over two years.”

“Now the American people can begin to properly mourn their friends, family and neighbors murdered by Hamas,” stated Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.).
Thousands pay final respects as IDF colonel laid to rest after return from Gaza
Thousands of Israelis paid their last respects to Israel Defense Forces Col. Asaf Hamami on Tuesday at the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery in Tel Aviv, two days after his body was released from Gaza by Hamas.

Hamami, who commanded the Southern Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces’ Gaza Division, was killed defending Kibbutz Nirim from the Hamas-led terrorist invasion on Oct. 7, 2023. He became the most senior officer to have been taken hostage during the massacre.

His remains were held in the Gaza Strip for 578 days, until Hamas returned them as part of the U.S.-brokered truce deal on Sunday.

Forty years old at the time of his death, Hamami is survived by his parents, a brother, his wife Sapir and their three young children, one of whom was staying with his father at a base near the border on Oct. 7. Alon Hamami, 6, survived the attack by hiding in the situation room.

“I so wanted a different ending, but this is probably the best ending I could have imagined since Oct. 7,” his widow said on Tuesday. “To know that you are here giving me air to breathe.”

Sapir Hamami read the names of the eight slain hostages who remain in Hamas captivity after almost 400 days, telling attendees: “Their families are in darkness and terrible fear that someone will be left behind, especially now that the people are tired of wars and protests.”

There was “no other option” but bringing them all home, she said. “I promise you that I will continue to be there with their beloved families, because I know that’s what you wanted.”


Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib: War Is Coming Back to Gaza
In my conversations with those engaged with the process, I’ve found two schools of thought about disarmament. Some countries believe that a political process must come first, establishing transitional governance to provide legitimacy and cover for disarmament. Other players, however, insist that disarmament must commence first, or else any political process will be subjected to Hamas’s interference, and to arm-twisting by those who can exert influence with their guns and tunnels. The latter have the stronger case. A credible political process cannot be established without first sidelining Hamas’s munitions and armaments, which are the only remaining source of leverage for the terror group and its rule in the Gaza Strip.

But if an international stabilization force is a political mirage that has no realistic chance of working as envisioned in Trump’s plan, the Palestinian Authority is incapable of taking on Hamas, local Israeli-backed militias in Gaza are all too weak to prevail without direct Israeli support, and the war-battered population is too afraid and tired to revolt against Hamas, then who could possibly take on what remains of Hamas to disarm it and decommission its extensive tunnel network?

Private military contractors are likely the only viable option to make the stabilization force remotely feasible and capable of implementing the mandate everybody wants. They can form the strike component of the force that will be necessary in the initial deployment phase. PMCs can operate free from some political constraints. They can hire individuals with extensive experience in military, policing, and security, and can deploy without requiring a significant footprint. On the ground, they can focus on close-quarters combat without the overwhelming application of firepower by an air force, thereby minimizing civilian casualties.

PMCs have a problematic track record, including Blackwater in Iraq and those used in Gaza during the food and aid distribution of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. But PMCs have also been the backbone of numerous operations run by the United States, NATO, Arab and Muslim countries, and nations in the Global South.

Furthermore, PMCs that operate in close proximity to civilians typically require personnel to undergo extensive training in human rights, crowd management, anti-trafficking, and anti-exploitation measures, and to abide by a code of conduct. They also vet their operators, and monitor compliance, to ensure that these principles are actually implemented and followed. I saw this firsthand with one of the companies involved in securing the GHF’s distribution sites, and heard how it had addressed some of its initial mistakes and challenges, and many of its operators worked to make it apparent that they were up to the task.

PMCs could enter zones still under Israeli control, clearing them of Hamas’s weapons and tunnels, and then Arab and international forces could operate inside those zones to keep the peace once it is established. PMCs could also venture beyond the “yellow line” into areas of Gaza where Hamas is still in control, methodically clearing and then holding territory before handing control over to international forces. Bit by bit, they can clear the Strip. Once secured, these areas can commence clearing rubble, removing unexploded munitions, and restoring basic services. Other local, regional, and international providers can move in to bolster a gradual process of reconstruction.

The people of Gaza desperately need pragmatic solutions. PMCs offer the best chance to implement the “clear, hold, and build” strategy that can restore security to the Strip. Only when Hamas is disarmed, and the people of Gaza are freed from its dominion, can they begin to create the future they deserve.


Draft UN resolution would grant US and partners two-year mandate to govern Gaza
The Trump administration’s draft United Nations Security Council resolution on establishing an international force in Gaza would reportedly give the US and other participating countries a broad two-year mandate to govern Gaza and be in charge of security there.

According to a copy of the draft published by the Axios news site on Monday, the so-called International Stabilization Force will be in charge of securing the Gaza Strip’s borders with Israel and Egypt, ensuring the safety of civilians and humanitarian zones, and training and partnering new Palestinian police officers.

The force’s mandate will apparently include disarming Hamas, with the draft saying that the ISF will “stabilize the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups.”

This clause could well be subject to debate, as countries that have offered to contribute troops to the ISF are not interested in sparring with Hamas in Gaza, two Arab diplomats reiterated to The Times of Israel last week.

The draft resolution also states that the ISF will perform “additional tasks as may be necessary in support of the Gaza agreement,” and that it will be established and operate “in close consultation and cooperation with Egypt and Israel.”

Additionally, the resolution calls for granting US President Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” the powers of “a transitional governance administration with international legal personality that will set the framework and coordinate funding for the redevelopment of Gaza pursuant to the Comprehensive Plan, until such time as the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its reform program.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly proclaimed that the Palestinian Authority cannot play any role in governing postwar Gaza, although the idea has remained popular among Israel’s Western allies.
‘Hamas could be taken out immediately if they don’t behave,’ Trump tells ‘60 Minutes’
In a “60 Minutes” interview at Mar-a-Lago on Oct. 31, which aired on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that “Hamas could be taken out immediately if they don’t behave.”

“If I want ‘em to disarm, I’ll get ‘em to disarm very quickly,” Trump told Norah O’Donnell, of CBS News. “They’ll be eliminated.”

Asked about calling himself “the peace president,” Trump said, “I think I did pretty good.” He added that “knocking the hell out of” Iran’s nuclear capabilities was “the key to Middle East peace.”

Trump also spoke about returning the hostages from Gaza.

“I got all the hostages out, but I always said the last 10 or 20 are gonna be tough,” he said. “But we were tough also, and they let ‘em all out.”

Trump described the anguish of families awaiting the return of deceased loved ones.

“Did you know a lot of the parents … they knew they were dead, in some cases,” he said. “Do you know that they were as anxious or even more anxious of getting their child out, even though they knew it was a body that we were dealing with, than the people that had a living child?”


Seth Frantzman: The Cheney era: How the powerful VP shaped US power, its Middle East missteps
The Trump administration has taken that to heart. In fact, it is widely agreed among many Republicans and Democrats that the US shouldn’t be pursuing the kind of global hegemony it did in the 1990s and early 2000s. Gone are the days of humanitarian intervention such as in Somalia and national building or being a global policeman as in the Balkan conflicts.

In addition, gone are the days of COIN and the concept of counter-insurgency. Instead, what the US does now is fight narrowly tailored wars “by, with and through” local partners.

Trump’s decision to try to end the Gaza war is an outgrowth of this. In some ways, therefore, the US policy today continues to sit in the shadow of Cheney’s role. Cheney was not the main person on the helm of US policy, he was part of a team. He was a key part of that team.

Sometimes he came in for public critique which portrayed him as somehow the man behind the curtain of the George W. Bush administration, wielding the power from behind the throne. This depicted him as a key to the US detainee programs and interrogations or renditions, as well as depicting him as a godfather of the Iraq war.

This may be an unfair portrayal. He served the president. He had ideas about what would and wouldn’t work in the Middle East.

The Iraq war led to a vacuum in Iraq. Rather than the dictator falling and it becoming a pro-American government, Iraq was slowly digested by Iranian-backed groups. Then extremist groups such as ISIS took advantage of the disaster and flowed in from Syria as the Syrian civil war raged after 2011. Cheney may have recognized the domino affect that was set off. Dictators fell in Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Eventually the Assad regime fell as well.

Cheney’s lesson in the use of American power is that it can be used lightly or judiciously, or it can be used like a sledgehammer. History may be more kind of those such as Colin Powell who believed in a doctrine learned from Vietnam of needing to have clear goals in war.

The aphorism, "break it, you own it" is often referenced to Colin Powell, who used it to describe the problem with invading Iraq. Powell may have been proven right. However, leaving Saddam in power would have left a genocider in power.

Hindsight is always 20/20. Cheney played a key role and was willing to be a voice of reason and also strength, willing to support some of the dirty work inherent in foreign affairs.
GOP reps urge Trump admin to designate ‘radical’ Palestinian group as terror org
Reps. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) and Jefferson Shreve (R-Ind.) urged the U.S. Treasury Department to designate the Palestinian Conference for Palestinians Abroad as a terror organization, arguing that it “functions as Hamas’s representative body abroad.”

In a letter sent to Scott Bessent, the U.S. treasury secretary, on Tuesday, the legislators noted that Israel designated the PCPA, established in 2018, as a terror group in 2021.

“Under the guise of a civilian organization, it orchestrates violent demonstrations, anti-Israel flotillas and other provocations aimed at destabilizing the region and advancing Hamas’s global agenda of eliminating the State of Israel and the Jewish people,” the congressmen wrote.

According to Barr and Shreve, new documents uncovered by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and released by the Israeli Foreign Ministry include “an official letter from Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh and a roster of senior PCPA operatives, conclusively establishing the organization’s ties to Hamas.”

“Ultimately, the PCPA is not a benign advocacy group, but a coordinated network engaged in propaganda, logistical support and international mobilizations on Hamas’s behalf,” the congressmen wrote.
Anti-Israel Brussels group asks Germany to arrest Nova festival survivor
The Hind Rajab Foundation, an anti-Israel legal group based in Brussels, filed a formal complaint to Germany’s federal prosecutor general alleging that Elkana Federman is guilty of “war crimes” and calling for the security guard at the Nova festival to be arrested.

Federman helped evacuate wounded people during the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, used a fallen Israeli soldier’s rifle to return fire until he ran out of ammunition, was shot in the leg and hid in a thicket until he was rescued.

The security guard was in Berlin, where he served as a panelist at an event on “heroes of Oct. 7.”

The anti-Israel group said Federman, who was part of an Israeli protest against aid trucks entering Gaza amid the war, during which Hamas looted such aid, “actively participated in preventing food and medicine from reaching civilians.”

The complaint invoked a German law that holds the “perpetrators of human rights violations accountable, irrespective of where the crime was committed and whether the act has any relation to the country in question.”
How the UN’s International Court of Justice works as Hamas’s partner in crime
The mother of Israeli hostage Yonatan Samerano wants to show the judges of the International Court of Justice, in person, the video of a worker from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) kidnapping her son’s body to Gaza during Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.

This horror, however, would not likely influence the ICJ. Late last month, the ICJ issued a blatantly politicized advisory opinion that unfairly bashes Israel and seeks to force the Jewish state to work with UNRWA in Gaza, while neglecting the U.N. agency’s established complicity in Hamas’s terrorist enterprise.

Not only is the ICJ functioning as a criminal accomplice of Hamas, but so are the media that reported the ICJ action uncritically. It’s all part of a concerted effort to support the resurrection of Hamas and discredit Israel’s efforts to protect its citizens.

The ICJ and mainstream media regurgitated disproven accusations Hamas has used to smear and vilify Israel for the last two years. These accusations contributed to skyrocketing antisemitism worldwide and damaged Israel’s (and Israelis’) standing globally.

Fortunately, the ICJ has no power to make Israel do anything, much less force it to cooperate with an organization seeking its destruction. The ICJ is not a proper court of law, but rather a “partisan political tool,” as the U.S. State Department has described it.

Most egregiously, the ICJ ignored stark evidence of UNRWA’s inseparable connection to Hamas, which contradicts the United Nations’ lofty moral and legal principles, which the ICJ is supposedly chartered to uphold.

In short, the ICJ’s advisory opinion is a travesty of international justice that gives aid and comfort to irredeemable terrorists, and gives Israel and its allies every reason to ignore it.
Arsen Ostrovsky: Sydney Peace Prize honours long record of twisted morality
Western nations have long rejected Pillay’s commission. Indeed, the Albanese government has said “its broad and one-sided recommendations are further evidence of the mandate’s excessive and one-sided scope”.

The US, including under the previous administration of president Joe Biden, repeatedly admonished the commission, calling its approach “biased” and “a stain on the council’s credibility”.

Bipartisan legislation in congress even sought to eliminate it, saying it “directly obstructs peace in the Middle East” and that “US tax dollars have no place funding an anti-Israel commission”.

And yet, rather than being repudiated, Pillay is being honoured in Australia, with a public stage in Sydney Town Hall and meetings with senior officials.

Clover Moore, who will present the award, said “with an unwavering belief that the law must serve humanity, judge Navi Pillay’s work shows us that peace can be built through justice and dignity”.

But that description could not be further from reality. Pillay has not served humanity through law; she has manipulated the law to vilify Israel, whitewash Hamas, and erode the very notion of equal human rights she claims to defend.

Awarding Pillay this prize, not only legitimises her distortion of international law, but at a time of such surging antisemitism across Australia will only deepen division and embolden those who target the Jewish community and seek to sow discord.

By choosing to honour Pillay, the City of Sydney and Sydney University are sending a dangerous message: that antisemitism and double standards, cloaked in the language of human rights to vilify Israel, are acceptable, and indeed to be rewarded with public platforms and taxpayer funds.

Australia has long prided itself on fairness, integrity and moral courage. To honour Navi Pillay under the banner of “peace” is to betray those very values.
South Sudan to the United Nations: Ground Your Spy Copters and Purge the Corrupt
For decades, the United Nations has sold itself as the guardian of peace and protector of the powerless. But in practice, the blue flag now flies over a system that shields its own privilege while undermining the sovereignty of the very nations it claims to defend. The latest example comes from South Sudan, where the South Sudanese government is confronting the U.N. directly — and in writing.

In a confidential Note Verbale dated October 28, 2025, from UN whistleblowers sent to Inner City Press, South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered a message to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS): stop spying, stop wasting money, and stop protecting your cronies. The document — published exclusively by Inner City Press — accuses UNMISS of turning a peacekeeping mandate into a machine for surveillance, patronage, and self-enrichment.

The government’s demands are explicit. It orders the grounding of all UN helicopters and aircraft equipped with surveillance or reconnaissance (“ISR/spy”) cameras. It calls for a 70% cut in international military contingents, insists that reductions target the bloated layers of foreign staff rather than local workers, and demands that UN contracts go to South Sudanese firms — not the revolving circle of international contractors tied to mission insiders. In short, South Sudan is telling the UN to stop behaving like a colonial overlord and start acting like a guest.

This comes with internal whistleblower leaks describing chaos within UNMISS itself: a leadership vacuum, a culture of fear, and blatant misuse of mission funds. Senior officials are said to spend more time arranging one-day “field visits” to collect per diem allowances than overseeing operations. The Special Representative, Nicholas Haysom, is reportedly on indefinite medical leave; other top administrators have taken “vacations” as the mission disintegrates. Disciplinary decisions are allegedly made at private parties where officials drink vodka, smoke weed, and decide which staff to purge.

For South Sudan, this is not just a matter of pride — it’s a matter of sovereignty. The note insists that UNMISS must scale back its footprint, close unnecessary outposts, and operate only from a few regional hubs under host-country oversight. Even the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) — the legal framework granting UN personnel broad immunity — is now getting called up for review, which is unprecedented.

And yet, this story doesn’t stand alone. It fits a pattern — one that runs straight through the UN’s global machinery. From Gaza to Juba, the institution has become defined by its refusal to confront its own corruption. The same UN that defends Hamas-linked employees at UNRWA is the one that shields officials accused of child rape in South Sudan. The same spokespeople who stonewall questions about terror collaboration are the ones who refuse to answer for sex crimes and financial abuses. The disease is not local — it’s systemic.


Former UN Official to Share Platform with Convicted PFLP Terrorist Who Planned Suicide Bombings
A November 3, 2025 webinar titled “Uniting for Peace” will feature Craig Mokhiber, a former UN human rights official, alongside Ubai Aboudi, a convicted member of the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who planned foiled suicide bombings.

Aboudi is executive director of the Bisan Center for Research and Development, which was designated a terrorist entity by Israel in 2021, and a steering committee member of the Palestinian NGOs Network. The online event is billed as discussing solutions to “stop Israel’s aggression.”

Aboudi’s Criminal History and Terror Convictions
Aboudi was arrested for planning a terrorist attack in 2005 at the IDF Armored Corps Museum at Latrun using two suicide bombers and a car bomb. Amnesty International confirmed he was arrested in 2005 and 2010 for PFLP-related offenses, and has spent over four years in Israeli prisons.

His involvement with the PFLP continued, and Israeli authorities arrested him again in November 2019, sentencing him to 12 months in prison in June 2020. Aboudi was convicted of being PFLP member from 2016 to July 2019, during which he was convicted for recruiting “activists” to the terror group and strengthening its infrastructure.

Terror Designation of Bisan Center
Before joining Bisan, Aboudi worked as Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) until 2019. The UAWC has been identified by the Palestinian Fatah movement as an official “affiliate” and described in a USAID-commissioned audit as the “agricultural arm” of the PFLP.

On October 22, 2021, Israel’s Ministry of Defense designated both the Bisan Center and UAWC as two of six organizations operating as part of a network of front groups for the PFLP. The official designation from Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing stated that these organizations “present themselves as acting for humanitarian purposes; however, they serve as a cover for the promotion and financing of ‘Popular Front’ activity.”

According to the ministry, the designated organizations received substantial funding from European countries and international organizations that was used to support PFLP terror activities, recruit activists, and pay security prisoners’ families.


UN’s Albanese posts cartoon echoing age-old anti-Jewish spiderweb trope
The UN special rapporteur for the Palestinians, Francesca Albanese, last week posted a cartoon denouncing Israel, depicting what appears to be a global spiderweb, its strands draped with cash and weapons, in an image that experts said echoed age-old antisemitic tropes.

Albanese’s office said the cartoon was not meant to depict a spiderweb or Israel, and condemned antisemitism.

Albanese has a history of antisemitism and extremist rhetoric against Israel, according to her critics. She says she is a champion for Palestinian rights and an opponent of discrimination, including against Jews.

The cartoon, posted to Albanese’s 1.2 million followers on Instagram, shows four hands holding the corners of a globe-spanning web. Hanging on the strands are dollar bills, gold coins, a tank, a rifle and a bomb. The map depicted on the globe is ambiguous — at the center is a flame, apparently representing Israel and the war in Gaza.

Albanese posted the cartoon to advertise her latest report to the UN, titled “Gaza Genocide: a Collective Crime.”

“Israel’s genocide and settler-colonial occupation of Palestine are not isolated acts: they are the outcome of a global system of complicity,” Albanese wrote alongside the cartoon.

Authorities on antisemitism who viewed the cartoon said it was reminiscent of antisemitic tropes going back generations.

Sara J. Bloomfield, the director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, said Albanese’s cartoon was “unconscionable and makes a mockery of what the United Nations shoul


Israeli forces eliminate terrorist crossing Gaza’s Yellow Line
Israeli troops on Tuesday killed a Palestinian terrorist who crossed the Yellow Line into Israeli-controlled territory in northern Gaza in violation of the ceasefire, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The terrorist had advanced on Israeli forces, posing an immediate threat, the military said.

It was the third ceasefire violation of its type in as many days. On Monday, terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line and advanced toward troops were eliminated by air and ground strikes. On Sunday, the Israeli Air Force struck a terrorist who crossed the line and threatened IDF soldiers stationed there.

“IDF soldiers under the Southern Command remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” the military said.

The Yellow Line is a new demarcation established by the Israeli military as part of the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement with Hamas in October. Concrete barriers topped with a yellow-painted post mark the area to which Israeli forces have withdrawn. It runs north, center and south through the Gaza Strip, with the IDF controlling some 53% of the territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ruled out the safe movement of some 200 Palestinian terrorists from the Yellow Zone in Gaza, under the control of the IDF, to the territory ruled by Hamas.

This came on the back of an earlier report that Israel would allow them to move under the condition that they lay down their arms.

“The IDF chief of staff’s position is that these terrorists should be eliminated,” according to senior IDF officials cited by Israel’s Channel 12 News. The terrorists should only be allowed to redeploy to Hamas-controlled areas if the terrorist group returned the eight hostage bodies it is still holding, in violation of ceasefire terms, the officials added.


IDF Duvdevan troops nab two Hamas terrorists in Nablus
Israeli commandos arrested two Hamas terrorists in Nablus (Shechem), Samaria, on Tuesday during complex undercover raids, the Israeli military said.

Duvdevan Unit troops, acting on Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) intelligence, apprehended the suspects separately in the Balata camp and in Masaqin Sha’abiya, as part of a coordinated effort in the Samaria Regional Brigade area.

A Palestinian terror suspect was killed by Israeli security forces near Nablus during an arrest raid in early September.

The suspect attempted to escape during the raid in the village of Tammun, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Border Police fired at him and “a hit was confirmed,” it added.


travelingisrael.com: 3 Reasons Why Benjamin Netanyahu Must GO. Reason #3 Won’t Surprise You

‘Sense of relief’ as former senator shares her experiences in Israel Former senator and Olympian Nova Peris discusses her experiences in Israel amid the freeing of hostages.

Labor and Greens team up to block opposition motion seeking transparency on Albanese government’s Gaza refugee intake
The Greens and Labor have blocked a bid by shadow home affairs minister Jonno Duniam to force transparency on the government’s handling of arrivals from Gaza.

The motion sought all written advice and question time briefs since 29 September 2025 relating to migration pathways and special visa arrangements for Gazans.

It aimed to give voters clarity on how the Albanese government was managing the intake of people from the war-torn enclave.

Liberal and Nationals senators, along with independents Tammy Tyrell and Fatima Payman, voted in favour of the motion, which was defeated 27-34.

The political clash comes as Australia has continued to accept refugees from Gaza, despite a ceasefire brokered in the region by US President Donald Trump.

Sky News reported in October that the Albanese government could allow 600 to 700 more Gazans to settle in Australia.
Israel, India sign major defense deal in shadow of weapons boycotts
The Israel-India Joint Working Group (JWG) convened on Tuesday for its annual meeting, led by Defense Ministry Director-General Maj.-Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram and Indian Defense Secretary Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh.

During the meeting, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enhance defense, industrial, and technological cooperation.

While the announcement gave few details, previously it has been reported that India would acquire rockets for its ground forces and Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile air defense missiles developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for around $3.75 billion, and that IAI would convert six commercial planes into Indian Air Force refueling aircraft for $900 million.

The defense deal is going forward at a time when many other democracies have cut back on their defense relations with Israel due to the war in Gaza.

Signing a deal with India, the world’s largest democracy, could assist Israel in rebuilding its reputation globally.

As part of the visit, the Indian delegation met with Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Indian delegation meets major Israeli defense authorities
Additionally, a special panel was held with the CEOs of major defense industries, during which, according to the ministry, “innovative and groundbreaking Israeli technologies were presented, along with ideas and projects aimed at deepening industrial-defense partnerships between Israel’s defense industries and India.”

Some of the other senior Israeli officials involved included the directors of the Political-Military Bureau, the Directorate of Defense Research & Development (DDR&D), the Directorate of Security of the Defense Establishment, and the International Defense Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT), alongside representatives from the IDF Planning Directorate and other defense officials.

The Indian delegation also included senior representatives from the Defense Ministry and Armed Forces.


Activists block Israelis from Greek island port in second such incident in 24 hours
About a thousand Israeli holidaymakers were briefly prevented from disembarking at a port on the Greek island of Crete on Tuesday due to pro-Palestinian protests, in the second such incident within 24 hours.

Yossi Manor, one of the passengers on the Mano Maritime cruise ship Crown Iris, told Ynet that when passengers tried to leave Sounda Port around noon on Tuesday, there were some 10 pro-Palestinian activists standing with signs and shouting “Free Palestine,” blocking their exit.

“The Crete police are helpless. They blocked the gates and the police are not letting us out,” the Israeli vacationer told the Hebrew-language site.

Another passenger, Chava Schwartz, slammed the incident as an “unprecedented scandal” in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 News.

“Instead of dispersing the demonstrators who were waiting for us, as was done at all the other ports we visited, they closed the port gates on us and put us under a kind of ‘lockdown,'” she told the channel, adding: “There is great anger here that this is not being addressed at the highest diplomatic levels.”

A spokesperson for Mano Maritime told Channel 12 News following the incident that “there was no violence toward passengers; all organized excursions departed as planned. All passengers are safe.”

Mano “is a private company and expects Israel’s government and Greek authorities to handle this,” the statement said. “Similar incidents have occurred in the past involving Israelis abroad, including during flights. This situation requires professional handling by security authorities.”

On Monday, a similar incident occurred when dozens of pro-Palestinian activists greeted passengers of another Mano Maritime ship at the Greek island port of Argostoli with signs reading, “Zionist murderers.”
Pro-Palestine protests kick off at maritime defence expo in attempt to block event
Pro-Palestine protesters have been attempting to block a weapons expo in Sydney on Tuesday morning ahead of the start of the three-day event.

The Palestine Action Group are known for holding weekly protests around the Sydney CBD, protesting against the war in Gaza.






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