Thursday, April 30, 2026

04/30 Links Pt1: US finds evidence tying four more UN staffers to Oct. 7; The Party With the Nazi Tattoo; MSF Abandoned Neutrality, Employed Staff with Hamas Ties

From Ian:

What Thomas Jefferson Would Do about Iran's Barbary Pirates
The Western approach to diplomacy is to attempt to reconcile legitimate but conflicting interests. Iran's rulers, by contrast, regard compromise as capitulation. And they have no interests that we should recognize as legitimate. For 47 years, they have vowed "Death to Israel!" and "Death to America" - unambiguous declarations of war.

American presidents in the past have responded: Maybe the theocrats don't really mean it! Maybe they'll liberalize over time! Maybe we can identify moderates among them! One president sympathized with their "grievances," accommodated their ambitions, and sent them palettes of cash. They were not appeased.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) still has hundreds of small, fast-attack boats in the Strait of Hormuz. Those who use boats to harass or attempt to seize commercial vessels should be designated as pirates. And Americans long ago learned how to deal with pirates.

In 1786, while serving as U.S. Minister to France, Thomas Jefferson questioned an envoy from Tripoli - one of the North African Barbary states - about his government's habit of seizing American and European ships and cargo, and enslaving sailors. The envoy said he was doing his religious duty, enforcing Islamic law as he understood it. From then on, Jefferson opposed paying ransom or tribute to the Barbary Pirates and deemed negotiations futile. As president in 1801, he took a kinetic approach: the First Barbary War (1801-1805).

Iran's rulers, whatever their internal disagreements, all call themselves "Islamic revolutionaries." Their revolution, we should understand, is against America. If Iran's rulers are praying for martyrdom, that may be a matter on which we can find agreement.
Explaining the Iran-U.S. Value Asymmetry
The Western approach to diplomacy is to attempt to reconcile legitimate but conflicting interests. Iran's rulers, by contrast, regard compromise as capitulation. And they have no interests that we should recognize as legitimate. For 47 years, they have vowed "Death to Israel!" and "Death to America" - unambiguous declarations of war.

American presidents in the past have responded: Maybe the theocrats don't really mean it! Maybe they'll liberalize over time! Maybe we can identify moderates among them! One president sympathized with their "grievances," accommodated their ambitions, and sent them palettes of cash. They were not appeased.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) still has hundreds of small, fast-attack boats in the Strait of Hormuz. Those who use boats to harass or attempt to seize commercial vessels should be designated as pirates. And Americans long ago learned how to deal with pirates.

In 1786, while serving as U.S. Minister to France, Thomas Jefferson questioned an envoy from Tripoli - one of the North African Barbary states - about his government's habit of seizing American and European ships and cargo, and enslaving sailors. The envoy said he was doing his religious duty, enforcing Islamic law as he understood it. From then on, Jefferson opposed paying ransom or tribute to the Barbary Pirates and deemed negotiations futile. As president in 1801, he took a kinetic approach: the First Barbary War (1801-1805).

Iran's rulers, whatever their internal disagreements, all call themselves "Islamic revolutionaries." Their revolution, we should understand, is against America. If Iran's rulers are praying for martyrdom, that may be a matter on which we can find agreement.
Monitored phone calls and fear of arrest: What life looks like for Iran’s Jews now
Amid the war in Iran, one Iranian Jewish woman who lives in the United States, but whose family remains in Iran, has been wracked with fear. Before the ceasefire, she spoke with her parents once a week for exactly one minute — both because of the exorbitant cost, about $50 per minute, and because of the fear of surveillance.

During one call a few days into the war, she said, something felt off.

“I could see that something is so wrong. It’s as if someone was there,” the woman, who moved to the U.S. in 2008, said in an interview with the Forward. “It seemed like my mom was actually reading from a note.”

She later learned that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had come to her parents’ home, questioning why they frequently called an American number. They instructed her parents to download Bale, an Iranian messaging app widely believed to be monitored by authorities, before making any further calls.

“It’s a spy app, and everyone knows that,” the woman said with a wry laugh. Her parents refused. Instead, they were told to call their daughter and read from a script while IRGC members watched.

“Basically, they said to prove that you are with us and not with Israel, read this when you call her,” the woman said. “After that day, they didn’t call for a long time.”

Eventually, she learned that her parents had fled to a safer part of the country to escape bombardment.

Her family are among the estimated 10,000 Jews who still live in Iran, in the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside of Israel. Once numbering around 120,000, the community has dwindled significantly since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when life for religious minorities fundamentally changed. Today, Jews who remain in Iran must carefully navigate life under the regime, publicly expressing loyalty to avoid being falsely accused of Zionist espionage.

Amid Iran’s war with the U.S. and Israel, that pressure has intensified.

With an ongoing internet blackout, communication is limited and closely monitored. To understand what life is like for Iranian Jews today, I spoke with several people in the U.S. who remain in sporadic contact with family members inside Iran. Everyone interviewed requested that they not be identified, fearing repercussions for either themselves or their families.


New think tank report urges centralized public diplomacy to combat Israel’s post-Oct. 7 isolation
The perennial complaint from supporters of Israel that the Jewish state has “bad PR” has sparked dozens of organizations and books over the decades and prompted the Israeli government to invest hundreds of millions in public diplomacy, including a $730 million allocation in its 2026 budget.

Yet the problem has only worsened after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, during the subsequent Gaza war and through the war with Iran this year. A new paper from the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University seeks to analyze the challenges and find solutions for Israel’s government to better handle them.

In an interview with Jewish Insider, the paper’s authors — Akiva Tor, a former Israeli ambassador to South Korea and head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s department for world Jewry and world religions, and Ofir Dayan, author of Intifada Globalized, about young Westerners’ turn away from Israel — characterized Israel’s image problem as a danger to its security.

“Everyone knows that there is a huge hasbara problem for Israel,” Tor said, using a Hebrew word that translates to “explaining” and is used to describe Israel’s efforts to portray the country in a positive light. “We tried to see what was unique in this moment … through a politically neutral perspective.”

Dayan noted that “it’s become a real issue of national security when Israel faces sanctions and countries are not willing to sell weapons. It affects Israel’s ability to execute plans and achieve its goals, and has a direct influence on Israel’s capability to fight.”

She added, “Since Oct. 7, we see a shift happening not only among youth and young adults, but it’s reaching positions of power, like [New York City Mayor Zohran] Mamdani and elsewhere.”
Israeli firm rejects Russian grain shipment after Ukraine protest
An Israeli firm that bought grain from Russia said on Thursday it would not accept the latest shipment, after Ukraine had flagged the transaction as a stolen goods purchase.

The importer, the Zenziper Company, told TheMarker business newspaper that it will “decline to receive the Russian ship,” the Hebrew-language daily quoted a spokesperson as saying. “The Russian exporter of the wheat cargo will have to find an alternative destination to unload the goods.”

Contacted by JNS, Zenziper said it is formulating its reaction to the issue.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had protested the shipment publicly, writing on X on Wednesday: “Another vessel carrying [stolen] grain has arrived at a port in Israel and is preparing to unload. This is not—and cannot be—legitimate business.”

Zelenskyy, who threatened to approach European countries to apply pressure on Israel, said previous shipments of grain from Ukrainian land occupied by Russia had been offloaded in Israeli ports.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, writing on X, called news of the grain’s rejection a ”welcome development,” adding, “This demonstrates that Ukraine’s legal and diplomatic actions have been effective.”

The shipment was aboard the Panormitis bulk carrier, sailing under the flag of Panama; Sybiha and his government maintained it was operating for Russia.
Peruvian president claims Jews pushed Germany into war because 'they controlled banks'
Peruvian President Jose Maria Balcazar has sparked outrage after claiming that Jews were partly responsible for “pushing” Germany into war.

The comments were made on Tuesday in a speech during a ceremony for the 138th anniversary of the Chamber of Commerce of Lima. Balcazar referenced a book called Los enemigos del comercio (“The enemies of commerce”) by Antonio Escohotado, saying that the arguments in the book should be recognized.

Balcazar then said, “It is a monument to the history of commerce: how bills of exchange were born, how international trade moved, what role the Jews had in Germany’s national and international trade, how Germany was pushed into a war also partly because of the Jews because they controlled all the banks, all the commerce, and practiced usury.

“All these historical details need to be remembered through Escohotado, so that we prepare ourselves better and recognize what the history and the via crucis [hardships] of the brothers dedicated to commerce was. It is truly interesting.”

In response, the Embassy of Israel in Peru and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany released a joint statement condemning the claim that Jews controlled German commerce and the German banking system, and therefore pushed the Germans into World War II, as “absurd, historically untenable, and in violation of the memory of millions of German Jewish citizens murdered by the Nazis.”

The statement continued, “It should be remembered that it was Adolf Hitler and the Nazis who began the Second World War by attacking Poland in 1939. Nazi ideology, racist and antisemitic, not only discriminated against its Jewish fellow citizens, but resulted in the murder of 6 million Jews in concentration camps. The Holocaust must never be trivialized under any circumstances.”
US foreign aid watchdog finds evidence tying four more UN staffers to Oct. 7
The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Inspector General said Thursday that it has identified evidence linking four current or former employees of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees to the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The individuals—three teachers and a social worker—are suspected of participating in terrorist activities during the Oct. 7 attacks or in the detention of civilian hostages kidnapped from Israel and taken into Gaza.

“These subjects were referred to the U.S. Department of State for consideration of suspension and/or debarment action to exclude them from working across future U.S.-funded aid organizations,” the agency stated. (JNS sought comment from the U.N. secretary-general and UNRWA.)

The announcement follows a separate action in February, when the office imposed a 10-year, government-wide debarment on Hafez Mousa Mohammed Mousa, a former UNRWA school principal in Gaza. Investigators found that Mousa, identified as a Hamas operative, coordinated communications with other suspected members on Oct. 7.

“That action represented the first known debarment by the U.S. of a terrorist affiliated with a U.N. agency responsible for humanitarian assistance programming,” the office said.

UNRWA confirmed to JNS that Mousa was fired as a result of the investigation.

The office stated that its ongoing probe into UNRWA has so far led to referrals for seven individuals for alleged participation in the Oct. 7 attacks and 14 others for suspected ties to Hamas.


News from UN reads like satire, House foreign affairs panel chair says
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, referred to a satirical website and a Jewish actor known for spoof roles when explaining why he thinks the United Nations seems like a parody.

“There’s hardly a week that goes by that we don’t read some headline about the United Nations that reads like it’s something out of the Babylon Bee or Hollywood, like Sacha Baron Cohen,” he said.

Mast decried the global body on Wednesday during a hearing of the panel’s subcommittee on oversight and intelligence titled “U.S. Accountability at the United Nations: Challenges and Opportunities for Reform.”

“What was this week’s headline?” Mast said. “It was that the United Nations selected Iran to serve on the Board of Nuclear Non-Proliferation. I can’t even say it with a straight face.”

Tehran was selected earlier in the week as vice president of a conference to review the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, drawing Washington’s ire due to the Islamic Republic’s repeated, consistent violations of nuclear safeguards and commitments.

Mast also denounced the 54-nation Economic and Social Council for selecting Iran earlier in the month for the U.N. Committee for Program and Coordination, which shapes policy on women’s rights, human rights, disarmament and terrorism prevention.

“This is the same regime whose idea on women’s rights is enforcing physical assault or detention for women who are caught without a hijab,” Mast said. “How does that happen? That is a rotten institution.”
UN Watch: Hillel Neuer Challenges Francesca Albanese at UN—PLO Moves to Shut Him Down
At the U.N. Human Rights Council, a dramatic clash unfolds. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese delivers incendiary accusations against Israel—echoed by Qatar, China, North Korea, Pakistan, and the PLO.

UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer takes the floor to challenge her report as biased advocacy masquerading as international law.

As he dismantles the claims—highlighting omissions of Hamas, October 7, and basic legal standards—the Palestinian delegate intervenes to stop him, arguing he is out of order. The chair agrees. Judge for yourself.

⏱️ Timestamps
00:01 – Albanese: “I do not care what religion Israel claims…”
00:22 – Regimes echo accusations: “genocide,” “apartheid,” “violations”
00:43 – Hillel Neuer begins response on behalf of UN Watch
00:58 – “This is not legal analysis. It is advocacy.”
01:19 – Redefining “torture” and collapsing it with genocide
01:35 – Key omissions: October 7, Hamas, hostages
01:56 – “International law demands rigor and objectivity”
02:13 – Call to reject the report
02:13–02:40 – PLO intervention: claims Neuer is “out of order”
02:40 – Chair backs interruption


Seth Mandel: The Party With the Nazi Tattoo
One need not be Jewish to understand that Nazis are bad. The moral failure here is the Democratic Party’s, not a single constituency.

That’s not to say there are no Democrats who know right from wrong. For example, Platner recently characterized Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania as “the bane of my existence”—the latest in a long line of reasons to admire Fetterman, who has made no secret of his disdain for Jew-baiters with Nazi tattoos.

There are the rare progressive activists with a conscience as well. Gun-control advocate Shannon Watts, who has been railing against the left’s support for Platner and its giddy embrace of anti-Semitic influencer Hasan Piker, tweeted today to remind everyone that Piker praised Platner by saying: “He was pro-Hamas. He was giving Hamas credit in 2014. What more do you f**king want?”

Apparently many in the party were convinced by that argument—made by a guy who, by the way, said America deserved 9/11 and is enthralled by political violence more generally.

In 2016, when Donald Trump refused CNN’s entreaties to reject support from the Ku Klux Klan, I joked on social media “The KKK took my party away,” a play on the famous Ramones song “The KKK Took My Baby Away.” Trump’s opposition clearly took his shameful moment as a blueprint for attracting the people they consider the white working class, and here we are.

That evolution (or devolution, really) speaks to the rise in mainstream political radicalism in America. It also speaks to a kind of thirsty adolescence that characterizes too much of the political class these days. In order to appeal to those they consider the cool kids, Democrats have been cursing like sailors for a few years now. Dignity, they have come to believe, is a surefire electoral loser.

Are they wrong? The race to the bottom in American politics is a fierce competition these days. The frightening part here is that Platner ought to be the bottom, and he clearly isn’t.

What comes next? What other stations will this circus train be rolling in to?

Maine voters will still have their say in November, of course. But by then Platner’s party’s leaders will be on to the next degrading scheme. Because, again, if this isn’t the bottom, then the bottom doesn’t exist.


Mamdani shares video of keffiyeh-clad door knocker, raising questions, hackles of Jewish New Yorkers
A keffiyeh worn by someone featured prominently in a New York City public service announcement that Mayor Zohran Mamdani released on Wednesday is raising questions and hackles among Jewish New Yorkers.

Two young workers from the mayor’s office of mass engagement, identified as Tascha and Mohamed, are shown in the video knocking at Gracie Mansion, the mayoral home.

Mamdani opens the door and asks them to tell him more about testifying at the June hearing of the Rent Guidelines Board, which sets cost increases for the city’s rent-regulated apartments.

Mohamed wears a keffiyah visibly tucked under his jacket, which has upset many Jewish New Yorkers.

“Everyone knows that the keffiyeh is now associated with events against Israel,” Benny Polatseck, a Chassidic Jew who worked in the creative communications department at City Hall under former mayor Eric Adams, told JNS. “Why is he presenting that message in a video that is not supposed to be political?”

Polatseck wonders if Mamdani is “going out of his way to offend the Jewish community.”

The first rule in the mayor’s communications department when Polatseck worked there was that nothing it produced could offend any segment of New York’s wide array of religious and ethnic communities, Polatseck told JNS.

“If we had produced anything like this, I would have been fired the next day,” he said.

Moshe Spern, who teaches history at a Queens public high school, told JNS that “the message being sent to me and every other Jewish person by this video is that, ‘I’m going to trigger you and make you remember Oct. 7, the biggest pogrom to face the Jewish people since the Holocaust.’”

“They can try to spin this if they want to and say it’s about bringing people together,” said Spern, who is president of United Jewish Teachers, an advocacy group that represents Jews in teachers unions. “But you are the mayor of New York City and should respect the million-plus Jews here.”


Owen Jones and the Mainstreaming of the Vile Dog‑Rape Libel
It is among the vilest and most stomach‑churning libels ever cooked up about Israel, which is likely why it is now being spread by one of the vilest of Israel‑haters: the claim that the IDF has trained dogs to rape Palestinians, now being pushed by Owen Jones.

Jones, an extremist Guardian columnist with a long record of promoting vicious and demonstrably false claims about the Jewish state, has now published this sewer‑level fantasy on his personal website, which is filled with all manner of anti‑Israel screeds that showcase his unhinged obsession with the Jewish state.

In his piece, Jones cites Euro‑Med Human Rights Monitor, a grotesquely anti‑Israel outfit that has already been central to pushing this particular libel – among other deranged conspiracy theories – to assert that there is now “overwhelming evidence” of these supposed crimes in Israeli detention centers.

“This is a level of depravity that the vast majority of people would struggle to imagine anyone even thinking up, let alone enacting. And yet the evidence is overwhelming: that the Israeli military is systematically using dogs to rape Palestinian detainees,” Jones writes.

His “evidence” consists of anonymous “Palestinian detainees” – none of whom are identified, and therefore cannot be independently checked – and his false claim that there are also testimonies from “Israeli soldiers.” There are no such testimonies. He simply asserts that they exist and expects readers to take it on faith.

Instead, toward the end of the piece, Jones wheels out Shaiel Ben‑Ephraim, whom he describes as an “Israeli academic and former soldier,” with Ben‑Ephraim claiming to have spoken to soldiers.


Two Green Party candidates arrested over alleged antisemitic online posts
Two Green Party candidates standing in the upcoming local elections have been arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred over alleged antisemitic social media posts.

Saiqa Ali, a Lambeth Green candidate for Streatham St Leonard’s ward, and Sabine Mairey, standing in Lambeth’s Clapham Town, were detained by Metropolitan Police officers on Thursday, according to The Telegraph.

Zack Polanski’s Green Party did not deny the two women had been arrested, as it declined to comment and said it was a matter for the police.

The Met said in a statement: “Police have arrested two women, aged 57 and 54, on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred online, an offence under section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986. They remain in police custody.

“The arrests follow an investigation launched after concerns were reported to police on Tuesday April 21 about antisemitic material that had been posted online.”

The newspaper reported it was understood Ms Ali, whose Instagram account is set to private, posted an image of an armed man wearing a headband of the proscribed Islamist militant group Hamas alongside the slogan “resistance is freedom”.

Ms Mairey shared the text “ramming a synagogue isn’t antisemitism, it’s revenge” on the platform, The Telegraph said.

A Green Party spokesperson told the Press Association: “This now a police matter. We won’t be commenting at this stage.”


The Iranian Regime Has Suffered Significant Strategic Defeats
As a result of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, Iran's nuclear program has been set back years. Uranium enrichment and reprocessing has been gutted and weaponization sites destroyed. Fordow is inoperable, Natanz is in ruins, and a generation of senior nuclear scientists has been eliminated.

Monthly production of ballistic missiles is down from 100 to near zero. Half the regime's missiles and launchers have been destroyed. Iran's air defenses have been devastated. It faces a naval blockade, near-zero oil exports, choked imports, wrecked steel and petrochemical sectors, triple-digit inflation, and a currency that is effectively worthless.

Khamenei is dead. Larijani is dead. Hundreds of senior IRGC, intelligence, military, and Basij commanders are dead. Gulf states are shutting down the sanctions-busting, money-laundering, and financial escape routes the regime has relied on for years. Iran's proxy network is shattered, with Hizbullah and Hamas heavily degraded.

In Syria, Assad is gone and the new government in Damascus is actively blocking Iranian arms transfers to Hizbullah. With Hizbullah battered and resupply choked, Israel and Lebanon have opened direct peace talks for the first time since 1983.

There is much more to do, but it is hard to comprehend how much has been achieved.
US forces redirect 42nd commercial ship amid blockade, CENTCOM says
U.S. forces have redirected a 42nd commercial vessel attempting to breach the maritime blockade of the Strait of Hormuz since the operation began, according to U.S. Central Command.

“This is a reflection of the outstanding work America’s sons and daughters in uniform are doing to prevent maritime commerce from entering or exiting Iranian ports,” CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper stated on Wednesday.

“There are 41 tankers with 69 million barrels of oil that the Iranian regime can’t sell” because of the “highly effective” blockade, Cooper said. “That’s an estimated $6 billion-plus from which Iran’s leadership cannot financially benefit.”

The U.S. Navy has enforced the blockade since April 13, following failed U.S.-Iran talks, targeting vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports while allowing transit through the Strait of Hormuz for ships not bound for Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said the blockade will remain in place until Iran agrees to a deal, Axios reported.
Lebanon’s ex-president Amin Gemayel says time is right for direct talks with Israel
The former Lebanese president who once signed a short-lived peace deal with Israel now says the time is right to try again.

Amin Gemayel spoke with The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday after the first direct talks between Lebanon and Israel since the 1980s, as they explore what could lead to a security agreement or even the eventual normalization of relations. He is part of one of Lebanon’s strongest political dynasties that founded the Christian Phalange party, which held powerful positions for decades.

The 84-year-old Gemayel, who rarely speaks to international media, acknowledged that much has changed as Lebanese leaders again pursue talks with Israel and as a fragile ceasefire holds. The discussions in Washington have led to angry protests as the Israeli military operation in southern Lebanon continues, and as parts of Beirut recover from a devastating Israeli bombardment on Hezbollah terror group targets early this month.

For one, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah had only been established during Gemayel’s presidency and was far from the powerful armed and political presence it has since become. Hezbollah, which like its patron Iran openly seeks to destroy Israel, opposes direct talks with Israel and believes Lebanon instead should support Iran in its talks with the United States, saying Tehran has more leverage.

But Hezbollah has taken major blows, Gemayel noted, and he supports its disarmament. The group’s military capabilities were significantly weakened by Israel’s strikes in Lebanon over the past two years. And the ouster of longtime backer Bashar al-Assad in Syria by Islamist-led armed opposition groups closed off much of the porous border used for transporting weapons.

Regional circumstances also have changed, Gemayel said.

“During my time, discussing a peace agreement with Israel was an unforgivable fatal crime,” he said.

Now he believes there is more openness in the region, and pointed to Syria’s direct talks with Israel as well as the Abraham Accords, where a handful of Arab countries, notably the United Arab Emirates, established diplomatic ties with Israel.
US urges Lebanese president to meet Netanyahu, suggests sit-down could lead to IDF pullout
The US appeared to be intensifying its efforts to arrange a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, suggesting Thursday that a sit-down could lead to Israeli forces withdrawing from southern Lebanon amid the shaky ceasefire with Hezbollah.

“A direct meeting between President Aoun and Prime Minister Netanyahu, facilitated by President Trump, would give Lebanon the chance to secure concrete guarantees on full sovereignty, territorial integrity, secure borders, humanitarian and reconstruction support, and the complete restoration of Lebanese state authority over every inch of its territory—guaranteed by the United States,” read a statement from the US Embassy in Lebanon.

The Trump administration has been pushing such direct engagement between the two leaders for weeks, with little success, having intended for the truce it brokered to allow for talks on a peace deal, potentially shaking up Lebanon’s internal dynamics and its role in the region. But Lebanese leaders remain at odds over the negotiation format and ultimate goal.

Aoun faces significant domestic pressure back home, including threats from Hezbollah, and it’s unclear whether he would be willing to meet Netanyahu while Israeli forces continue to occupy a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, where the shaky US-brokered ceasefire has failed to fully halt the war.

“Lebanon stands at a crossroads. Its people have a historic opportunity to reclaim their country and shape their future as a truly sovereign, independent nation,” read the statement from the US embassy.

“Direct engagement between Lebanon and Israel, two neighboring countries that should have never been at war, can mark the beginning of a national revival. The extended cessation of hostilities, achieved at the personal request of President Trump, has given Lebanon the space and the opportunity to put all of its legitimate demands on the table with the full attention of the United States government,” the statement continued.

“This is Lebanon’s moment to decide its own destiny, one which belongs to all its people. The United States is ready to stand with Lebanon as it seizes this opportunity with confidence and wisdom. The time for hesitation is over,” the US embassy added.


IDF releases name of soldier KIA in Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces has released the name on Thursday of the combat soldier who died in Southern Lebanon: Sgt. Liem Ben Hamo, 19, from Herzliya, who served in the 13th Battalion of the Golani Brigade.

Ben Hamo was killed by an exploding drone. Another soldier was also wounded in the incident.

“Together with all the citizens of Israel, my wife and I mourn the fall of Golani fighter, Sgt. Liem Ben Hamo, who fell in battle in Southern Lebanon. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of Liem and share in their profound grief,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted to X.

"[He] fought with courage and valor against the terrorist organization Hezbollah to safeguard Israel’s security. I send wishes for a speedy recovery to our wounded, and I strengthen and support our fighters on the battlefield who are acting with determination against every threat to them and to the settlements of the north. May his memory be blessed,” the prime minister wrote.

Since the start of “Operation Roaring Lion” on Feb. 28, a total of 16 IDF soldiers have been killed in Lebanon.


Ryan McBeth: Why Iran Thinks Nuclear War Brings Salvation
Recent peace talks with Iran have stalled, and unless something fundamentally changes, they’re not going anywhere.

In this video, I break down why negotiating with Iran is so difficult. It’s not just politics, economics, or sanctions. It comes down to who actually holds power, what they believe, and how that belief system shapes their strategy.

A lot of people compare the Sunni–Shia divide to Catholics vs Protestants. That works at a surface level, but when you dig deeper, the differences are far more significant, especially when you look at the Twelver Shia ideology that dominates Iran’s leadership.

If you believe that a period of chaos and global conflict is necessary to bring about a messianic figure… then your incentives look very different from a typical nation-state.

And that changes everything about nuclear weapons, deterrence, and negotiations.




Mojtaba Khamenei: Only place for US in Persian Gulf ‘is at the bottom of its waters’
Iran’s supreme leader said Thursday that the only place Americans belonged in the Persian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters” and that a “new chapter” was being written in the region’s history.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, speaking in a written statement read by a state television anchor as he has since taken over as Iran’s supreme leader, struck a defiant tone, insisting that the Islamic Republic will protect its “nuclear and missile capabilities” as a national asset, likely seeking to draw a hard line as US President Donald Trump seeks a wider deal to cement the shaky ceasefire now holding in the war.

Khamenei was reportedly badly wounded in the February 28 attack that killed his father, the 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and he has not been seen in public or on video since he assumed his father’s role as supreme leader in March. According to several anonymous sources, he suffered severe facial and leg injuries, though he remains mentally sharp and is taking part in meetings with senior officials via audio conferencing.

Other sources have claimed that the younger Khamenei is not exercising the same centralized authority as his father, with power instead shifting to senior commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and out of the office of the supreme leader, who remains under close medical care.

Khamenei’s most recent remarks come as Iran’s oil industry has begun to be squeezed by a US Navy blockade halting its oil tankers from getting out to sea. Meanwhile, benchmark Brent crude for June delivery reached as much as $126 a barrel in trading on Thursday as Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas traded passes.

All this is putting additional pressure on the world’s economy as Trump likely weighs how to respond.


Report: Doctors Without Borders Abandoned Neutrality, Employed Staff with Hamas Ties
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the Nobel Prize-winning medical charity known as Doctors Without Borders, systematically abandoned its core principles of neutrality and impartiality to lead an international “genocide” campaign against Israel while remaining silent about Hamas’s weaponization of hospitals and employing staff with documented ties to terrorist organizations, according to an April 2026 report by NGO Monitor.

The 33-page investigation reveals how MSF, which operates with a $2.4 billion annual budget, transformed from a humanitarian relief organization into what the report’s authors call “a leading source of false accusations and demonization targeting Israel,” amplifying unverified Hamas propaganda that was subsequently cited in proceedings before the International Court of Justice.

The “Genocide” Double Standard
The report documents that MSF used the term “genocide” 272 times across all platforms to describe Israel’s military operations in Gaza from October 2023 to March 2026. During the same period, MSF made zero mentions of “genocide” regarding the conflicts in Sudan, where over 300,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in what experts widely consider ethnic cleansing, or in Syria, Yemen, Ukraine, or Myanmar. MSF Canada placed full-page newspaper advertisements in the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail explicitly labeling Israel’s actions as genocide, while MSF International President Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim testified at the “Gaza Tribunal” accusing Israel of deliberately destroying Gaza’s healthcare system—without mentioning Hamas once.

“MSF is no longer neutral; its humanitarian language now serves a political cause,” warned Alain Destexhe, MSF’s former Secretary General (1991-1995), in a March 2025 analysis co-authored with Dr. Karine Toledano. The report reveals what experts describe as “blatant hypocrisy and Holocaust inversion,” applying double standards that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance identifies as a central form of antisemitism.

Systematic Silence on Hamas Hospital Militarization
The NGO Monitor investigation reveals that MSF personnel working in Gaza hospitals maintained systematic silence about Hamas’s documented use of medical facilities for military purposes, despite clear awareness of “closed and off-limits sections” in facilities where they operated. The Israel Defense Forces documented finding weapons caches, tunnel shafts, and command centers in Al-Shifa Hospital, Al-Rantisi Hospital, and Indonesian Hospital- all facilities where MSF maintained an active presence.

In February 2026, MSF itself was forced to suspend operations at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis after staff “reported a pattern of unacceptable acts” including “the presence of armed men, some of them masked; intimidation; arbitrary arrests of patients; and a recent situation involving the suspected movement of weapons.” This admission came only after extensive IDF documentation had “rendered continued denial untenable,” according to the Destexhe-Toledano analysis. Throughout the war, MSF had denied Israeli claims that terrorists were using hospitals as operational bases.

The report also documents MSF’s erasure of Hamas’s 500-kilometer “Metro” tunnel network beneath civilian centers, the estimated 100,000 improvised explosive devices planted throughout Gaza, and Hamas’s documented hijacking of humanitarian aid convoys and sale of supplies at inflated prices. MSF attributed food scarcity exclusively to Israeli restrictions while omitting Hamas’s systematic aid theft.


IDF: Hamas terrorist posing as paramedic killed in targeted airstrike
The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday eliminated a Hamas terrorist who “operated under the cover of a paramedic” during the war, exploiting Gaza’s medical system and civilian population, according to an IDF statement on Thursday.

Throughout the two years of war in the Strip, Ibrahim Abu Tzakar “led and advanced numerous attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel,” it continued.

He “had planned to carry out an imminent terror attack against IDF troops” and was killed in a targeted airstrike, according to the statement.

“Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance,” the military added.

Soldiers remain deployed in the enclave in accordance with the U.S.-brokered Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire agreement “and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” it said.

The truce ended the two-year war that began when Hamas, other Palestinian terrorist groups and Gazan civilians invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023.


US urges allies to block ‘pro-Hamas’ Gaza flotilla
The United States denounced the Global Sumud Flotilla as a “pro-Hamas initiative” on Thursday, urging allies to deny participating vessels access to ports and logistical support, and to pursue legal action against those involved in “this terror-supporting flotilla.”

“The founder of the Global Sumud Flotilla has publicly expressed support for the Iranian regime and its terror proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah,” Tommy Pigott, U.S. State Department spokesman, stated. He added that the flotilla is tied to the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, an entity sanctioned in January “for operating at Hamas’s behest.”

The flotilla is “a baseless, counterproductive effort to undermine President Trump’s Peace Plan,” Pigott stated.

“The United States expects all our allies, particularly those who have committed to supporting President Trump’s successful 20-Point Plan, to take decisive action against this meaningless political stunt by denying port access, docking, departure and refueling to vessels participating in the flotilla,” he said.

The State Department is calling on all allies to issue “clear public warnings” to their citizens to “refrain from participating in this terror-supporting flotilla in any manner or risk facing any applicable legal consequences.”

The Israeli Navy intercepted multiple vessels from the flotilla on Wednesday in the eastern Mediterranean, detaining activists and preventing the ships from reaching Gaza.


IDF Intercepts Hamas-Backed Gaza Flotilla Far from Israel
The IDF began taking control of the Global Sumud Flotilla's Spring 2026 Mission to Gaza late Wednesday, west of Crete. An Israeli official said the decision to intercept the flotilla at such a great distance, in international waters, stemmed from its size: 58 vessels carrying 404 activists.

In a video posted online by participants, the Israeli Navy can be heard hailing the flotilla. "This is the Israeli Navy. Attempts to breach the lawful maritime security blockade of Gaza constitute a violation of international law. If you wish to legally transfer aid to Gaza, you may do so through established and recognized channels. Please change your course and return to your port of origin. If you are carrying humanitarian aid, you are invited to proceed to the Port of Ashdod, where the aid will undergo security inspection and subsequently be transferred to Gaza." The Israel Foreign Ministry said the "medical aid" found on board consisted of "condoms and drugs."

The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that "the driving force behind the flotilla provocation is Hamas - joining hands with professional provocateurs - with the aim of sabotaging President Trump's peace plan transition to its second phase and intended to divert attention from Hamas's refusal to disarm."

The ministry said that following UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which adopted Trump's peace plan, humanitarian activity in Gaza had been managed by the Board of Peace and the Civil-Military Coordination Center, which had sent "enormous quantities" of humanitarian aid into Gaza. "Like previous provocations, this is nothing but a PR stunt: a provocation without humanitarian aid."
IDF Seizes 21 Boats in Gaza Flotilla
Israeli naval forces seized 21 of the flotilla boats, focusing on the larger, faster vessels - described as its "main and most significant" ships. About 170 activists were detained and transferred to a navy vessel to be brought to Israel in custody. The seized boats were disabled, with their engines rendered inoperable and left at sea. Around 40 other vessels continue toward Israel under close monitoring. Another flotilla of 40 boats from Turkey is expected.




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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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