Pages

▼

Friday, January 30, 2026

01/30 Links Pt1: UN Chief Guterres warns of UN's 'imminent financial collapse'; MSF withholds staff lists from Israel; It’s not war in Iran, it’s mass murder on a scale close to Babyn Yar

From Ian:

Jonathan Tobin: Stop chasing after the Saudis to join the Abraham Accords
That has been a key element of the price tag the Saudis put on their joining the accords. That sounded right to an American foreign-policy establishment that continued to believe that a two-state solution was the only way to end the conflict. Of course, as Palestinians have made clear, over and over again, they have no interest in the idea if it means they’ll have to commit themselves to living in peace with a Jewish state, no matter where its borders are drawn.

After the Second Intifada (2000-2005), and then Oct. 7, the once broad Israeli support for the concept has evaporated. Even most left-wing Israelis know that the Palestinians aren’t interested in peace. Acquiescing to demands for Palestinian statehood would have meant repeating the same catastrophic blunder made by the late Ariel Sharon when he withdrew from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005, thus setting in motion the events that allowed Hamas to seize control of the coastal enclave and eventually to be able to commit the atrocities in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Doing so in the far larger and more strategic areas of Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”) would have endangered the very existence of the state.

It’s equally true that the Saudis have no real desire to help create another failed Arab state that would, in all likelihood, be a perfect target to be taken over by Islamists—in this case, Hamas. Yet even before the Palestinians won general Arab and Muslim sympathy by launching a war on Oct. 7 with an orgy of mass murder, rape, torture, kidnapping and wanton destruction, the Saudis were only using the statehood issue to help deflect pressure to join the Abraham Accords.

That should serve as a reminder to Israelis and Americans not to be too disappointed by the Saudis’ decision to attempt to reclaim their status as the leader of Islamist rejectionist forces in the region, a stance that, in recent years, they surrendered to Qatar.

Would it ever have been worthwhile for Israel to have made such a grave sacrifice of its security concerns in exchange for Saudi recognition?

For Israelis, having the Saudis embrace them fully and openly as partners would have signaled the end of the Muslim world’s refusal to accept the Jewish state’s permanent place in the region. But setting up a situation where the Palestinian Authority would likely have been toppled by Hamas would have been suicidal. The scenario in which Hamas assumes control of the territories is a guarantee of nothing but another and even more bloody round of war.

As much as it’s nice to dream of a world where the region could truly be transformed into a “new Middle East,” such as the one that the late Shimon Peres dreamed of when he agreed to the 1993 Oslo Accords, 33 years later, Israelis still don’t live in such a world.

That’s why it is far better to keep such fantasies out of efforts to ensure that the Saudis remain outside of coalitions bent on Israel’s destruction. The Riyadh regime may still hope to develop its economy and needs to modernize its society to achieve that; however, it is never going to be entirely divorced from the Wahabi extremism that put their family in control of the Arabian Peninsula in the first place.

Riyadh can’t change
And so, Americans and Israelis should stop chasing after the vain hope of getting the desert kingdom to behave as if it is anything other than the Islamist regime that it has always been and likely always will be. The Saudis will always act in their own best interests, and if that lines up with a more Israel-friendly policy, then they’ll do that. And being realists and still desirous of friendly relations with the United States, there will be limits on how far they will go in terms of open hostility to Israel. But they can neither be persuaded nor bribed to give up their basic character.

It’s long past time for Washington and Jerusalem to acknowledge this fact and stop trying to pretend that Saudi Arabia is anything other than what it is. It may not be at war with Israel and may even prefer for it to, along with the United States, continue to act to deter Islamist forces that are hostile to Riyadh, even if they are no longer worried about Iran. But it’s never going to be a real friend or ally of a Jewish state.
South Africa declares Israeli chargé d’affaires persona non grata
South Africa on Friday declared Israel’s chargé d’affaires and top diplomat, Ariel Seidman, persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 72 hours, according to an official government statement.

South Africa’s foreign ministry, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), said it had informed the Israeli government of its decision.

South African officials said the move was based on what they described as “violations of diplomatic norms,” including the alleged use of official Israeli platforms to criticize South African leadership and a failure to notify authorities about visits by senior Israeli officials.

“These violations include the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks against His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa, and a deliberate failure to inform DIRCO of purported visits by senior Israeli officials,” said the statement.

In response, the Israeli Foreign Ministry designated South Africa’s top diplomat in the country, Shaun Edward Byneveldt, persona non grata, saying he must leave Israel within 72 hours, and that “additional steps will be considered in due course.”
Israel responds to South Africa, declares chargé d'affaires persona non grata
Israel has declared South Africa's senior diplomatic representative, Chargé d'affaires Shaun Edward Byneveldt, persona non grata and has been given 72 hours to leave the country, as announced in a statement by the Israeli foreign affairs ministry on Friday.

The action comes in response to South Africa's earlier decision on Friday, in which it declared Israel's chargé d'affaires, Ariel Seidman, persona non grata, according to South Africa's foreign affairs ministry.

Seidman is required to depart from the country within 72 hours, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

It went on to accused Seidman of "unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa's sovereignty."

"These violations include the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks against His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa, and a deliberate failure to inform DIRCO (South Africa's foreign affairs ministry) of purported visits by senior Israeli officials," the ministry said.

Israel's diplomatic mission in Pretoria did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Israeli foreign affairs ministry statement referred to South Africa's action against the Israeli diplomat Seidman as "false attacks on Israel in the international arena."


Ran Gvili's return: Israel did not 'win,' it negotiated and paid a price
FOR THE first time since October 7, no Israeli family wakes up wondering whether their loved one is alive or dead in a tunnel.

For the first time since the sirens of that morning, the list has stopped growing and, finally, stopped existing.

That is not nothing: It is the thin line between collapse and recovery.

Ran’s return closes the last open wound of that horrific day’s abductions.

It allows a family to mourn properly.

It allows a nation to exhale – not in relief, but in acknowledgment of reality.

It forces us to confront the full cost of Hamas’s war against our humanity, and the staggering burden Israel carries precisely because it refuses to become like its enemies.

We are often told that yellow ribbons are symbols of weakness. That caring too much invites exploitation.

That may be true – but we are human and we must never stop displaying our humanity – even if it costs us.

Strength at the expense of our souls is a strength we cannot afford.

October 7 proved the opposite.

It proved that our enemies already assume the worst about us – and fear something else entirely: that we will continue to choose life, memory, and responsibility even when it hurts.

So today, as the last yellow ribbon is untied, we do so with shaking hands.

Not because the danger has passed.

Not because the trauma is over.

But because the vigil has ended.

May we never again have to tie those ribbons.

May we never again negotiate over bodies.

May we never again allow terrorists to dictate the emotional rhythm of our lives.

And may the bravery of Ran Gvili – who ran toward terror when others fled, who fought on the day the world cracked open, and who was finally brought home – remind us of what this country demands from its best, and what it owes them in return.

The waiting is over.

The mourning remains.

And the hope – battered but unbroken – is that this chapter will never, ever be reopened.


Douglas Murray: Stop thinking like it's 2003 — toppling Iran's mullahs does not risk mistakes of Iraq War
Many such concerns in the region — and here in America — are the result of a 2003 mindset. People are worried that toppling the regime in Tehran would have results similar to the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

But there are a lot of differences between 2003 and today.

Not least is that today it is the Iranian people who are out on the streets protesting their own government. It is the Iranian people who have had enough of their tyrannical rulers, with their Islamic extremism and insane anti-American foreign policy that has made the country such a pariah. The Iranian people have a memory of relative freedom before the Ayatollah took charge. And many of them would like that memory to be turned once again into reality.

Just as important is the fact that one of the main reasons why the post-2003 debacle in Iraq happened was precisely because of the Iranian regime. The regime which itself is now teetering.

It was the Iranians who flooded their forces and their weaponry into post-Saddam Iraq. It was the Iranians who made the roadside bombs that killed thousands of American and other allied soldiers in Iraq. It was Iranian military and other forces who made Iraq into such a death-trap for the US. And it was the Iranian regime which moved into the vacuum that was created after the fall of Saddam Hussein — effectively turning Iraq into a vassal state of Iran.

Almost wherever you look in the Middle East it is the same story. Yemen? It is the Iranians who have been arming the Houthi militia who have targeted US military and diplomatic personnel. Without Iranian backing the Houthis wouldn’t know how to launch a canoe.

It is the same in Lebanon, where Iran’s armies have helped to destroy the country and make sure it remains in a state of permanent civil and religious strife. It is the same almost everywhere else in the world you look.

It is Iran that has spread its terror as far afield as Bulgaria and Buenos Aires. It is this Iranian government that has tried to kill a British novelist for the crime of writing a novel and assassinate a resident of Brooklyn for the crime of criticizing the revolutionary regime.

For decades the regime in Iran has acted with near impunity in all of these territories and more. And the response from the international community has been alternately either to try to isolate the regime or to bring them in from the cold. American governments and their European counterparts have spent decades on the one hand trying to cut off the Ayatollahs and another showering them with cash.

Perhaps it is for this reason that the Mullahs think they can get away with absolutely anything. Because for almost 47 years they have managed to do just that. They can massacre their own people on their own streets. They can spread terrorism around the planet. And they can abduct Western naval personnel, humiliate them, force confessions send them home with goody-bags.

Well they might have found the wrong adversary in this White House.

People often ask me what I think President Trump is going to do about a particular issue. And I tend to say the same thing, whatever the subject: Look at what he has said he is going to do, and that is the thing he is most likely to do.

The Iranian people have risen up with incredible bravery against their tyrannical government. President Trump has told the regime to stop the massacres of protestors, but the massacres go on.

So it’s over to Trump.

What do you think? Post a comment.

Which may well mean it’s over for the Ayatollah.

Not before time.
Iranian Mossad agent discusses anti-regime role during June's Israel-Iran war
An Iranian national, who worked with Mossad to set up a weapons system to destroy a ballistic missile launcher aimed towards Israel during the night between June 12 and 13, 2025, described the mission in an interview with Ilana Dayan on Channel 12's Uvda, broadcast on January 29.

The interview occurred in the fall of 2025, Channel 12 noted on their N12 News website.

The Mossad agent, identified by the pseudonym "Arash," described himself as "Mossad's eyes" during the mission, which took place at the start of the Israel-Iran war, shortly following the IDF's launching of Operation Rising Lion last year. Iranian Mossad agent "Arash" describes his mission to destroy a ballistic missile launcher aimed towards Israel during the Israel-Iran war, broadcast on January 29, 2026. (credit: Channel 12/Uvda)

"Our mission was to take a special and specific weapon, and assemble everything together, being ready to launch," Arash recounted, noting how he and his team prepared the weapons system.

"When I was training in Israel, I could assemble everything in less than an hour, and there [in Iran,] it took around one hour and forty minutes," he noted.

Dayan probed, noting the longer length of time within Iran, leading Arash to explain that he had to pause when he noticed vehicles coming towards him.

"I didn't know about our target, just...we got coordinates," he recounted.

He also noted how he was in touch with Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv throughout the mission. "I was Mossad's eyes inside this mission," he told Dayan.

"Everything was ready. [In order] to finish the job, I just had to push a button and get out of there. I was waiting over two hours until I received the order to launch. It was terrible. I was scared about everything," he recalled.


Jake Wallis Simons: It’s not war in Iran, it’s mass murder on a scale close to Babyn Yar
During the war in Gaza, much debate surrounded the combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio. According to the United Nations, civilians account for “nearly 90 per cent of wartime casualties” in urban theatres around the world. During the conflict with Hamas, by contrast, between two and three civilians lost their lives for each combatant, according to the Israel Defense Forces, with some analysts placing that figure closer to 1:1.5 or even 1:1.

The truth will probably never be known. After all, decades after the war in Iraq, civilian casualty estimates range between 186,000 and one million. But my point is this: in Iran, the combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio is meaningless, because there are no combatants, only civilians. It’s not war. It’s mass murder. On a scale close to Babyn Yar.

Which brings us to the heart of the matter. Whereas the broadcast media put on wall-to-wall coverage of the Gaza war for two years, they have shown only a cursory interest in the depravity in Iran. This week, on the day that Time Magazine reported that the death toll had surpassed 30,000, I checked both the BBC and Sky News apps. Not a single story when I looked.

Those who campaigned so fanatically for the Palestinians, despite greater catastrophes in Sudan and elsewhere, often claim that it is because Israel is a Western ally. Pressure on their governments, they argue, could persuade them to force Israel to abandon its self-defence. That’s why they concentrate all their energies on marching against the Jewish state.

What rot. Look at the state of Britain’s appeasement of the Islamic regime in Iran. Today, the EU announced that it was finally proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s overseas terror operatives. Britain, however, still refuses to do so.

The Ayatollah has a “nerve centre” in Maida Vale, which acts as a lightning rod for pro-regime activists. Has this been shut down? It has not. Our sanctions against the Islamic Republic can only be described as flaccid. Hell, even the Iranian ambassador to London has not been expelled.

All of this offers many clear objectives for Palestinian “human rights” activists, who care so deeply about innocent death. Where are the Leftie marches through London demanding action against the Ayatollah? Nowhere. Instead, on Saturday our capital will be once again defaced with yet another “national march for Palestine”, promoted on X by Jeremy Corbyn (who has been in the paid employ of the Iranian state broadcaster).

The reality couldn’t be clearer. From Gary Lineker to Amal Clooney, Dawn French to David Lammy, António Gueterres to Greta Thunberg, the reaction has been muted. The truth, it seems, is that those who shout loudest about human rights are the ones who wish to subvert the West. That’s what they really care about.


Satellite images indicate Iran working to salvage nuclear materials from damaged sites
As tensions soar over Iran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests, satellite images show activity at two Iranian nuclear sites bombed last year by Israel and the United States that may be a sign of Tehran trying to obscure efforts to salvage any materials remaining there.

The images from Planet Labs PBC show that roofs have been built over two damaged buildings at the Isfahan and Natanz facilities, the first major activity noticeable by satellite at any of the country’s stricken nuclear sites since Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June.

Those coverings block satellites from seeing what’s happening on the ground, which is the only way for inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor the sites right now, as Iran has prevented access.

Iran has not publicly discussed the activity at the two sites. The IAEA, a watchdog agency of the United Nations, did not respond to requests for comment.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded that Iran negotiate a deal over its nuclear program to avert threatened American military strikes over the country’s crackdown on protesters. The US has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers into the Middle East, but it remains unclear whether Trump will decide to use force.

The new roofs do not appear to be a sign of reconstruction starting at the heavily damaged facilities, experts who examined the sites said. Instead, they are likely part of Iran’s efforts “to assess whether key assets — such as limited stocks of highly enriched uranium — survived the strikes,” said Andrea Stricker, who studies Iran for the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which has been sanctioned by Tehran.

“They want to be able to get at any recovered assets they can get to without Israel or the United States seeing what survived,” she said.


Rubio revokes Iranian officials' US travel privileges over deadly protest crackdown killing thousands
Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently revoked Iranian senior officials and their family members' privilege to travel to the U.S., citing ongoing oppression by the regime.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime is accused of killing more than 6,200 protesters since Dec. 28, with nearly 17,100 additional arrests as internet communications remain halted, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

"As the people of Iran continue to fight for their basic rights, [Rubio] took action this week to revoke the privilege of Iranian senior officials and their family members to be in the United States," the State Department wrote in an X post.

"Those who profit from the Iranian regime's brutal oppression are not welcome to benefit from our immigration system."

In addition to the potential civil rights violations in Iran, tensions have flared between Khamenei and President Donald Trump as the U.S. attempts to strike a nuclear deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned on Wednesday the nation's military is "prepared — with their fingers on the trigger — to immediately and powerfully respond to ANY aggression against our beloved land, air, and sea."

Araghchi claimed Iran has "always welcomed" a mutually beneficial, fair and equitable nuclear deal that would ensure Iran's rights to peaceful nuclear technology and guarantee no nuclear weapons.

Trump fired back on Truth Social, warning a "massive" armada was heading to Iran "with speed and violence, if necessary."

"Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!" Trump wrote in a post. "As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was ‘Operation Midnight Hammer,’ a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again."

The president said Thursday night it would be "great" if the U.S. did not have to use the military fleet.


Al Jazeera to host Iranian FM, Hamas leader, and CCP propagandist at its forum in February
Al Jazeera Media Network is set to host Iran's foreign minister, a senior Hamas leader, and an Erdogan propagandist at its upcoming Forum on February 7.

The forum will be held from 7 to 9 February 2026 in the capital Doha and is titled "The Palestinian Cause and the Regional Balance of Power in the Context of an Emerging Multipolar World."

Among the keynote speakers are figures such as Abbas Araghchi, who is the foreign minister for the Islamic Republic of Iran, a state known for its abuse of human rights, extrajudicial killings, and support for terror groups. His appearance will come just weeks after Tehran’s major crackdown on Iranian protesters, with as many as 30,000 or more people having been killed by the regime.

Another keynote speaker is Burhanettin Duran, who serves as head of Turkey's Directorate of Communications and is a key ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As part of his propagandist role in the Turkish government, Duran oversees media control, disinformation, and repression of journalists.

Victor Gao, the vice president of the Center for China and Globalization, is also set to speak. Gao is a prominent Chinese Communist Party (CCP) apologist and has been known to defend Xinjiang camps and the Hong Kong crackdown. In 2019, he defended the detention of an estimated one million Uighur Muslims in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.


State Department demands Iran halt execution of 19-year-old wrestling star
Iran is seeking to execute a decorated Iranian wrestler for merely peacefully protesting against the regime in early January, prompting the U.S. State Department on Wednesday to demand that Tehran overturn the death penalty for 19-year-old Saleh Mohammadi.

Wrestling is a national pastime in Iran and a sport liked by President Donald Trump, who sought to save the life of champion Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler Navid Afkari in 2020. The clerical regime in Iran executed Afkari for his 2018 role in a demonstration against the economic and political corruption of the theocratic state.

According to the official X account for the State Department in Farsi, a post on Wednesday read: "The United States is deeply concerned by reports that 19-year-old wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi is facing imminent execution. The regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran is massacring young people and destroying Iran’s future. We call on the Iranian regime to halt the execution of Saleh Mohammadi and all those sentenced to death for exercising their fundamental rights. #SalehMohammadi #StopExecutionsInIran #HumanRights #IranProtest."

The Iranian American, Sardar Pashaei, who won a Greco-Roman wrestling world championship title for Iran and coached the country’s elite Greco-Roman team, told Fox News Digital, "In less than 10 days, the Iranian regime shot dead more than 30 athletes across the country. The youngest was just 15 years old. The victims included youth athletes, national champions, coaches and international referees. Every one of them was killed by gunfire."

He added that his organization, Hiwa, "has documented only confirmed cases. Many more athletes remain missing, imprisoned, or at risk of torture and execution, while families across Iran continue searching for loved ones with no answers or justice." He praised the State Department's actions in publicly calling for Saleh Mohammadi's release.


US approves more than $6.5 billion in potential military sales to Israel, Pentagon says
The United States State Department has approved more than $6.5 billion in potential military sales to Israel in three separate contracts, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The US State Department approved a potential sale of Joint Light Tactical Vehicle and related equipment for an estimated cost of $1.98 billion, and another sale of AH-64E Apache Helicopters for $3.8 billion, the Pentagon said in separate statements.

A third military contract was also awarded for $740 million.

The principal contractor for the first sale is AM General LLC, while Boeing and Lockheed Martin are the contractors for the sale of Apache helicopters. US approves potential $9 billion sale of Patriot missiles to Saudi Arabia

The US State Department has approved the potential sale of Patriot advanced capability-3 missile segment enhancement missiles and related equipment to Saudi Arabia for an estimated cost of $9 billion, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The principal contractor for the sale is Lockheed Martin Corp, the Pentagon said in a statement.
IDF announces capture of one of Hamas's top remaining commanders during overnight operations
The IDF announced the capture of one of Hamas's top remaining commanders during Friday's operation in Rafah, where eight terrorists were identified by troops coming up from below the ground, and were then struck by the Israeli air force, successfully killing three of them.

After the strikes, the IDF performed searches in the area and apprehended one of the fleeing terrorists. He was later identified as a key commander in Hamas’ Eastern Rafah Battalion.

"IDF troops, together with the ISA, continue searches and additional activities in the area in order to locate and eliminate the additional terrorists," the military said.

According to reports by Army Radio, the other four terrorists identified as leaving the tunnels were not captured, and their location remains unknown.

IDF strikes Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
Also on Friday, the IDF targeted a Hezbollah terrorist in the Seddiqin area in southern Lebanon, citing several ceasefire violations by the terror organization.

The IDF said in a statement that the terrorist took part in attempts to reestablish military infrastructure sites belonging to Hezbollah.

Strikes in southern Lebanon on Hezbollah infrastructure continued into Friday evening, according to IDF updates.

The IDF also identified four armed terrorists on Friday near the Yellow Line, approaching IDF troops in a way that constituted an immediate threat. The troops alerted the Israeli Air Force, which struck and successfully killed the four terrorists.

IDF held back during Gaza war to protect hostages' intelligence
During the Israel-Hamas War, the IDF sometimes avoided killing certain Gazan terrorists who knew where Israeli hostages were being held, a senior IDF Intelligence Corps commander reported Thursday.

This disclosure resolved a two-year mystery of how Israel managed to kill Hamas’s leaders while not losing the ability to locate the hostages. At the start of the war, some officials worried that Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif might be immune from elimination because they could be the only ones who knew certain hostage information.


Key Points of Hezbollah’s Current Military Status January 2026 – Situation Assessment
Command Level
At the command level, Hezbollah is facing serious structural difficulties, most notably a prolonged leadership crisis alongside significant weakening of its mid-level command ranks.

In the wake of the eliminations the organization sustained during the war, affecting both its political and military leadership, a leadership vacuum has emerged, fuelling internal disagreements and heightened tensions among the remaining senior figures. The elimination of Abu Ali Tabatabai in November 2025 further deepened these command challenges.

These eliminations, both during the war and throughout the ceasefire period, have also likely accelerated the erosion of the mid-level command structure. This decline results from the loss of experienced commanders and key hubs of expertise, the growing strain placed on those still in position, and disruptions to command and operational continuity.

At the same time, mid-level commanders must continue managing routine military and security responsibilities. Due to their daily physical proximity to the Shiite population, they are also heavily engaged in supporting and assisting the families of Hezbollah operatives affected during the war and ceasefire, while contending with the everyday hardships (and mounting frustration) within the organization’s base community.

Iranian Support
Iranian support remains a key pillar of Hezbollah’s military reconstruction and operational capacity. Tehran’s strategic commitment to restoring Hezbollah and maintaining its strength is reflected in continued weapons smuggling, illicit funding channels, and sustained technical and professional support. In this context, Iranian personnel, particularly from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Quds Force, are active on Lebanese territory, offering supervision, training, and expertise across multiple domains. This support enhances Hezbollah’s military capabilities and acts as a significant force multiplier in rebuilding and sustaining the organization’s damaged military infrastructure.

Summary
Despite the substantial and accumulating damage Hezbollah has suffered to its military capabilities and command structure during the fighting, and notwithstanding the serious challenges it faces on both the military and civilian fronts, the organization continues to demonstrate notable resilience and recovery. An examination of its key force components suggests that, at present, Hezbollah’s pace of military reconstruction is outstripping the scope of IDF countermeasures.

In its current condition, Hezbollah retains the ability to engage in a direct confrontation with Israel, meaning; it could operationally join a potential conflict should the United States strike Iran. However, in our assessment, such involvement would depend on authorization from the “Vilayat-e Faqih” (“rule of the Islamic jurists”), and Hezbollah would only enter the conflict if the Supreme Leader, or his successor, were to issue such a decision.

Several reports indicate that during the 12-day war against Iran in June 2025, despite the desire of the IRGC and Quds Force military leadership for Hezbollah to participate, the organization ultimately refrained. In our view, this was due to the absence of an order from the Supreme Leader, and therefore Hezbollah did not join the war.


MSF withholds staff lists from Israel due to security
Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as 'Doctors Without Borders', announced on Friday that it will not provide the staff lists requested by Israel to maintain access to Gaza and the West Bank. The organization cited an inability to secure assurances about the safety of its teams as the reason for its decision.

This announcement comes just one week after MSF had agreed to share staff lists with Israeli authorities.

"After many months of unsuccessful engagement with Israeli authorities and without securing guarantees for the safety of our staff or the independent management of our operations, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has decided not to share a list of its Palestinian and international staff with Israeli authorities under the current circumstances," the organization stated.

MSF, which provides support and personnel to hospitals in Gaza, is one of 37 international organizations that Israel has ordered to cease operations in the Palestinian territories unless they comply with new regulations, including the submission of employee details.

The aid group expressed concerns that sharing staff information could jeopardize their safety, referencing the number of aid worker deaths in Gaza, an estimated 1700, which included 15 MSF staff members.

MSF also claimed that Israeli authorities have failed to provide the "concrete assurances" that staff information would only be used for administrative purposes.


UN Chief Guterres warns of UN's 'imminent financial collapse,' cites unpaid fees
The UN chief has told member states that the organization is at risk of "imminent financial collapse," citing unpaid fees and a budget rule that forces the global body to return unspent money, a letter seen by Reuters on Friday showed.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly spoken about the organization's worsening liquidity crisis, but this is his starkest warning yet, and it comes as its main contributor, the United States, is retreating from multilateralism on numerous fronts.

"The crisis is deepening, threatening program delivery and risking financial collapse. And the situation will deteriorate further in the near future," Guterres wrote in a letter to ambassadors dated January 28.

The US has slashed voluntary funding to UN agencies and refused to make mandatory payments to its regular and peacekeeping budgets.

US President Donald Trump has described the UN as having "great potential" but said it is not fulfilling that, and he has launched a Board of Peace, which some fear could undermine the older international body.


Jonathan Sacerdoti: Are the old rules finally dead? How Trump is rewriting global power – Col Richard Kemp
What happens next in Iran? Will the United States strike, and if so, when? Will Israel be drawn in again, or deliberately held back this time? Will Britain take part, or remain confined to a defensive role?

What would the targets actually be – nuclear facilities, missile infrastructure, or the leadership itself? And if the regime is hit hard enough to fall, who takes over? If it survives, what then?

These questions sit at the centre of the Middle East right now. Military forces are already deployed. Diplomatic pressure is intensifying. The margin for miscalculation is shrinking, and whatever comes next will shape the region for years, possibly decades.

In this deep and analytical conversation, Colonel Richard Kemp speaks with Jonathan Sacerdoti about the strategic reality behind the headlines. Kemp is a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan and a long standing analyst of Islamist movements, Western military power, and the politics of war. He brings operational clarity to a moment dominated by uncertainty and noise.

The conversation also covers Hezbollah, Hamas, Gaza, the Houthis, and how Iran’s proxies shape escalation across the region. It also turns to Britain, asking whether the UK is prepared for war at all, and what repeated signals of weakness mean for deterrence, along with analysis of the planned UK surrender of sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, Britain’s shrinking strategic posture, and the consequences of failing to defend national interests.

👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand what may be coming next in Iran and the Middle East, and what it reveals about Western strength, weakness, and leadership.

💬 We Discuss:
🇮🇷 What Iran’s internal unrest means for the survival of the regime
🇺🇸 Whether a US strike is now likely, and what it would target
🇮🇱 Israel’s role behind the scenes and why intelligence may outweigh firepower
🎯 The realistic prospects and dangers of regime collapse in Tehran
🧨 How Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis shape regional escalation
🇬🇧 Britain’s readiness for war and the limits of its current posture
⚖️ The legal pursuit of soldiers and veterans and its impact on morale
🏝️ The Chagos Islands and the consequences of surrendering strategic ground
🏛️ Leadership, deterrence, and why institutions fail under real pressure
🌍 How the Middle East could be reshaped if Iran weakens or falls


Israel Advocacy Movement: How Kurdish Muslims React When They Meet an Israeli



Alleged Qatar spy operation said to have targeted GOP lawmakers opposed to Muslim Brotherhood
The oil-rich Gulf state of Qatar hired a former CIA agent's company to discredit Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., and other lawmakers who oppose Hamas and its parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital.

The documents reveal that the alleged Qatar state-funded espionage campaign targeted Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, because he had sought to have the Muslim Brotherhood designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

The clandestine document, titled "Project ENDGAME" and drafted by U.S. company Global Risk Advisors (GRA), which was founded by the ex-CIA employee Kevin Chalker, reads, "High Alert: An attack on Hamas is an attack on Qatar. An attack on the Muslim Brotherhood is an attack on Qatar."

The March 2017 Qatari-funded plan of action to torpedo anti-Hamas and anti-Muslim Brotherhood legislation and policies noted that "Sen. Ted Cruz has reintroduced his bill to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group. Unless you act soon, your enemies will inject Qatar into this fight."

Sens. Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz were allegedly targeted by the Qatar state-funded espionage. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images/Fox News Digital)

In the month before Qatar reportedly started its attacks on adversaries of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, Fox News Digital reported on Cruz’s legislation to outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood.


‘Free Palestine’ activist tried to assassinate Biden in 2024 over Gaza, US feds say
Federal investigators arrested an Alabama man this week for attempting to assassinate then-US president Joe Biden in 2024, the latest in a string of violent incidents or attempted attacks in the US tied to the anti-Israel movement.

Adam Benjamin Hall, 23, allegedly brought a firearm to a debate between Biden and Donald Trump, then the Republican candidate, held in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024, to kill Biden. Hall failed to enter the debate, federal prosecutors said.

The plan came to light more than a year later, when in October 2025, Hall told fellow students at Wallace State Community College in Alabama about his attempt to assassinate the president. He said he had a revolver with two rounds, claiming that was enough to kill Biden because he was a “pretty decent shot and Joe Biden was or is like one foot and four toes in the grave already.”

Hall told the other students that he had been distressed by images of maimed Palestinian children, had written a “manifesto,” and had nearly failed out of college due to his obsession with the assassination plan.

Local police informed the US Secret Service about Hall’s comments the following day. The federal investigators interviewed one of the students who heard of the plans and Hall’s parents. The parents said they learned of the assassination plan about a month afterward and confiscated the revolver, a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson. Hall lived with his parents in the small, rural community of Crane Hill, Alabama, about a three-hour drive from Atlanta.

Hall later told investigators that he had been upset by images online, presumably from Gaza, and decided he needed to do something about it, and looked up plans for the presidential debate hosted by CNN. He bought the revolver in cash, and drove from Alabama to Atlanta, but accidentally went to a closed CNN location. He scouted the area to prepare for the attack, only realizing his mistake several hours later, after the debate had ended, the criminal complaint said.
Lefty radicals storm Jewish temple and hurl obscenities, mock LI Dem Rep. Suozzi over vote to boost ICE spending
Foul-mouthed lefty radicals stormed a Jewish temple to ambush and mock Long Island Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi this week over his initial vote to back a GOP-led spending bill that pumps more cash into ICE.

The activists — from the left-wing advocacy group Climate Defiance — caused chaos inside the house of worship in Roslyn where Suozzi was speaking Wednesday night, crudely showing up with diapers and kneepads and cursing the self-described “moderate” Dem for joining his Republican colleagues last week in passing a $64.4 billion funding package for the Department of Homeland Security.

Suozzi later apologized for his vote a few days later on the funding, which included about a $10 billion boost for Immigration and Customs Enforcement — but that didn’t matter to the crude demonstrators.

“I actually have some gifts — I have some kneepads for you — you can use these while you blow Donald Trump,” a protester said, according to a video posted by the group on social media.

Another activist handed Suozzi a diaper, telling him he’s the type of leader to “soil themselves when the fascists are at our door,” the video showed.

“As a Jewish man, I have never felt safer than when there is a masked Gestapo in the street, so thank you, Congressman Tom Suozzi, for funding ICE,” a third protester said.


‘Zio-eradication’ group that favours ‘armed resistance’ to meet in Birmingham
A Birmingham community venue is scheduled to host the launch of a group that openly supports “armed resistance” and campaigns against what it calls “Jewish supremacy”.

The event, due to take place next Sunday at the Old Print Works – a community centre complete with a cafe, co-working space and darkroom – is billed as the launch of the “Anti Zionist Movement”, a group that states publicly that it is “pro-armed resistance” and explicitly campaigns “against Jewish supremacy”. The group’s Instagram description reads “Liberation via zio eradication”.

https://api.thejc.atexcloud.io/image-service/alias/contentid/1ourptpp2ee2f1y1tow/Screenshot%202026-01-30%20at%2011.22.45.png?f=3x2&w=732&q=0.6 The event is supported by the “Activist Independent Movement” group. Promotional material indicates that it will feature a lineup of speakers who have attracted controversy over their previous comments.

It includes David Miller, an academic sacked by the University of Bristol in 2021 over his anti-Zionist views; NHS doctor Rahmeh Aladwan who was suspended from practising last November for 15 months over alleged antisemitic social media posts pending an investigation; and Iran state TV journalist Latifa Abouchakra.

Miller, who last year posted on social media that he had travelled to Lebanon to attend the funeral of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, has called for the abolishment of Israel and regularly pushes conspiratorial notions of “Zionist” influence in the UK.

He challenged his sacking, with an employment tribunal finding he was unfairly dismissed.

Aladwan, meanwhile, claimed the UK is “occupied and controlled” by “Jewish supremacy”, and hailed the October 7 terrorist attacks as “glory to the Palestinian armed resistance, glory to Al-Aqsa flood”.


Revealed: Protester who shouted ‘Zionists must be put down’ is let off
A protester who called for Zionists to “be put down” was spared charges after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) judged the threat to be a non-criminal “political” statement, the JC can reveal.

The decision has been condemned as apparently making calls for violence against supporters of Israel “acceptable”.

One MP warned of the danger of giving a “green light” to antisemites.

This is only the latest in a series of troubling cases that have raised deep concern over the failure to prosecute alleged offences affecting the Jewish community.

A JC investigation has uncovered ten examples that call into question the judgment and competence of prosecutors faced with allegations of offences related to antisemitism.

Jewish leaders have now warned of “systemic failure” at the CPS, while Labour and Conservative parliamentarians called for urgent change in response to the “worrying findings”.

Former attorney general Sir Michael Ellis has proposed the establishment of a specialist antisemitism unit at the service, an idea supported by other politicians.

The protester was filmed at a demonstration in Swiss Cottage, north London in November 2024, calling Zionists “terminally deranged”, describing Zionism as a “sickness” and saying it was “incurable so they just need to be put down”.

The Metropolitan Police submitted a file but prosecutors concluded the remarks did not meet the threshold for criminality.

The alleged victim asserted their right to review, but the CPS upheld the decision, writing back in October 2025 that the remarks were an expression of “political ideology” rather than a criminal call to violence.

The review was in any event completed after the statutory time limit for pursuing a public order offence had expired. No such time limit exists for racially aggravated cases.

This is just one of multiple cases found by the JC to be falling into a pattern of serious allegations resulting in no charges, downgraded offences or prosecutions collapsing before court.




Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 

at