Seth Mandel: What Democrats and ‘America First’ Influencers Don’t Get About the Israeli Consensus on Iran
Moreover, they’re warning that should the general shape of affairs remain as they are now, the Israeli opposition intends to inaugurate a more hawkish foreign policy and one that is less compliant with American demands.Khaled Abu Toameh: The Gaza Roadmap: A Diplomatic Fantasy That Keeps Hamas in Power
To i24 News, Yair Lapid, the left-most of Bibi’s main rivals, “insisted that Israel must preserve its freedom of military action, regardless of American decisions. ‘Israel is a sovereign state, not an American protectorate,’ he declared, calling on Netanyahu to make it clear to Donald Trump that Israel would not be bound by any agreement that jeopardizes its security.”
Regarding the idea that any cease-fire deal with Iran would also apply to Hezbollah in Lebanon, Avigdor Lieberman fretted that “our soldiers simply have their hands tied in Lebanon.” Even Benny Gantz, who was Netanyahu’s rival in past elections but has expressed openness to working with him again, said simply that until Hezbollah drones stop attacking Israel, “no plane should take off from Beirut.”
The lesson here isn’t that Bibi is really a dove or that Yair Lapid is really a hawk. It’s that those terms aren’t useful in this debate because Israeli public opinion maintains something close to a mainstream consensus on the country’s basic security needs. Netanyahu and his rivals may have different ways of dealing with their American would-be counterparts, but they all pledge to uphold that consensus.
Almost as if on cue, Netanyahu had the IDF hit Hezbollah positions in Lebanon hard. For his part, Trump seems to want to prevent the appearance of public discord with Israel. When initial reports of the deal’s outlines were coupled with stories of the Arab states’ influence over the timing and terms of the deal, Trump demanded that those Arab states also join the Abraham Accords and sign normalization agreements with Israel. The message: We’re all on the same team, aren’t we? If you really want peace in the Middle East, prove it.
We learn two things from this. One is that when politicians claim to have a problem only with Netanyahu and not the Israeli mainstream, such a claim is completely untenable, at least regarding the Iranian threat specifically. Two, that if Netanyahu’s rivals put more daylight between themselves and Trump, it won’t necessarily be due to the lobbying of Democrats or the weirdly pro-Iran “America First” crowd.
You can rearrange the pieces all you want, but in the end Israelis are going to support taking out the threats they face. That means resolution, not cease-fire, in both Lebanon and Iran. If you want to be seen as solving the problem, you’ll have to actually solve the problem. Israelis won’t be fooled by anything less, no matter who is president and who is prime minister.
Hamas remains armed, organized, and committed to its declared goal of destroying Israel through jihad (holy war). Yet instead of confronting this reality, international diplomats continue to indulge in dangerous fantasies about negotiating Hamas out of existence.Republicans press Trump to permanently dismantle UNRWA
[Nickolay] Mladenov [former United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process] added that the biggest obstacle to full implementation of the ceasefire remains "Hamas's refusal to accept a verified decommissioning, relinquishing coercive control, and permit a genuine civilian transition in Gaza."
That Mladenov is appealing to the UN Security Council to pressure Hamas reveals the core flaw of the entire approach: the "Board of Peace" and its international sponsors continue to view Hamas as a rational political actor rather than what it actually is: a jihadist terror group.
Mladenov's roadmap repeatedly speaks about "reciprocity," "verification," "implementation mechanisms," and "phased decommissioning."
Hamas's charter states that "Israel will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it," and mandates jihad as a religious and individual duty for all Muslims to "liberate Palestine."
Hamas [in the "roadmap"] is even being allowed to remain armed and influential during the early stages of the transition process....
This is unacceptable and contradicts the very spirit of the UN Security Council Resolution 2803, on which the roadmap claims to be based. The resolution authorizes a temporary International Stabilization Force and requires the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, including the full disarmament of Hamas and the destruction of all its military infrastructure.
The message being sent to Hamas is unambiguous: continue holding your weapons, continue ruling the Gaza Strip through intimidation and terror, and the international community will keep negotiating with you.
The latest roadmap explicitly states that the proposal "does not call for immediate surrender or unilateral disarmament." Instead, it outlines a "phased, Palestinian-led internationally verified process."
Hamas... has already made clear that it rejects the proposal altogether.
Hamas is again telling the world openly that it has no intention of disarming. It wants to remain in power so it can continue pursuing, with the help of the Iranian regime, its jihad against Israel.
Hamas also seems to understand something that many Western diplomats and officials refuse to acknowledge: armed Islamist groups are not removed through conferences, committees, or UN resolutions. They are removed through force. The only countries capable of removing Hamas militarily are Israel and the US.
While diplomats hold meetings in Cairo, New York, Doha, and Ankara, Hamas uses time to entrench itself, rearm, regroup, recruit, and tighten its control over the Gaza Strip's population.
Republicans in both chambers of Congress are urging the Trump administration to move to permanently dismantle the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, with a new letter from House Republicans calling for a reworking of Palestinian refugee programs in the region.
In a letter sent to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, more than 90 House Republicans, led by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), called for a “broader view of the agency’s operations — not only in Gaza, but across the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria” and for the administration to ensure that the U.S. does not “continue to rely on failed systems that have further entrenched the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
The U.S. stopped funding UNRWA in early 2024, after revelations that several UNRWA employees participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, and Congress has continued to impose statutory bans on such funding since then, in spite of efforts by Democrats to reinstate funding for the aid agency.
“Ultimately, UNRWA has not been a force for stability but has instead perpetuated the refugee crisis and reinforced the conditions that have allowed terrorism to persist,” the lawmakers wrote. “We strongly urge your administration to take decisive action to fully dismantle UNRWA and transition its functions to more credible and trusted partners that are demonstrably free of ties to terrorism and committed to transparency, accountability, and peace.”
The letter suggests transferring funding for Palestinian refugee programs to their host countries directly or to other non-governmental organizations.
The letter states that UNRWA has “perpetuated and expanded” the Palestinian refugee crisis by conferring heritable refugee status across generations, “transforming what was once a finite humanitarian issue into a permanent and growing political challenge.”
UN Watch bombshell report: UN rights envoys accused of bias, foreign funding and ethical breaches
Thirteen of 59 UN special rapporteurs show a consistent pattern of ideological bias despite being required to remain neutral, claims a new report by UN Watch, a human rights monitoring organization focused on the United Nations, published on Tuesday.
The 104-page report also alleges unethical conduct and significant financial conflicts of interest, including funding linked to Qatar, Russia and China. The report, titled “From Watchdogs to Ideologues,” accuses senior UN human rights officials of advancing clear political agendas while abandoning their role as impartial observers, undermining the credibility of the international human rights system.
“The UN’s rapporteurs operate without ethical constraints or consequences — and there’s not even a procedure to remove them,” said UN Watch director Hillel Neuer. “The result is a powerful bloc of compromised officials who enjoy not only diplomatic immunity, but complete impunity.”
Praising rights-violating states and supporting Hamas
According to the findings, Alena Douhan, the UN special rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, received $1.3 million in funding from China, Russia and Qatar. The report alleges that her official visits to Tehran, Beijing, Damascus, Doha and Caracas were conducted in part to legitimize authoritarian regimes rather than to assist civilian victims.
“Alena Douhan, the UN special rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures, who defines Western sanctions on dictatorships as illegal, received 1.3 million dollars from China, Russia, and Qatar,” Neuer said. “No one is even checking how this money is being used. If a judge took 1.3 million dollars from one of the parties, they would be immediately disqualified and removed from the bench. If a journalist openly endorsed a terror group on social media, they would be fired on the spot.”
In another case, Ben Saul, the UN special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, who has previously called on foreign governments to halt arms exports to Israel, reportedly received $150,000 from China, a country widely accused of systematic human rights violations against minorities. The report says Saul has consistently avoided statements on the persecution of China’s Uyghur Muslim minority, including their detention in re-education camps, and has not challenged Beijing’s framing of its actions as “counterterrorism.”
Alena Douhan, the UN expert against Western sanctions, received $1.3 million in funding from China, Russia, and Qatar.
— UN Watch (@UNWatch) May 26, 2026
Her official visits — including to Tehran, Beijing, Damascus, Doha, Caracas, and Harare — were conducted exclusively to support the regimes, not their victims. pic.twitter.com/DOf5ajSfk3
UN Watch's findings show a clear pattern of ideological bias and financial conflicts of interest that are hampering human rights.
— UN Watch (@UNWatch) May 26, 2026
Read the full 104-page investigative report:https://t.co/4aHfG80wME
UN Watch: How Politicized UN Special Rapporteurs are Subverting Human Rights
Once hailed as the “crown jewel” of the United Nations human rights system, the UN's Special Procedures wield massive global influence. With 59 active mandates covering global themes and specific countries, these experts are granted a powerful platform to shape international law, public debate, and media narratives. Their findings are widely treated as authoritative and neutral, regularly cited by prestigious bodies like the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights, and governments worldwide.
Yet, a troubling reality is emerging behind the scenes. While academic scholarship overwhelmingly praises the system as an independent and effective safeguard, the mechanism increasingly functions as a vehicle for ideological advocacy. Tarnished by politicization, a disregard for impartiality, and weakened evidentiary standards, the Special Procedures are routinely used to launder unverified—and even spurious—allegations through the moral authority of the United Nations.
Our newly launched report rigorously examines how the daily reality of this system drastically diverges from its glowing reputation. We document how structural deficiencies and a complete lack of accountability allow mandate-holders to advance politicized narratives—disproportionately targeting democratic nations while shielding authoritarian regimes from necessary scrutiny. Read the full report to uncover the systemic failures compromising this vital international safeguard, and explore what it means for the future of global human rights.
Today we are asking the European Union, UK, Canada and Australia to agree that it is morally obscene for a U.N. “human rights expert” to take $150,000 in direct funding from the brutal Chinese Communist regime that systematically violates the human rights of 1.5 billion people. https://t.co/142QUV58Rx
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) May 26, 2026
It's sad that the @WHO representative, Dr Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, makes false and misleading claims at the @UN , while the facts on the ground tell a completely different story.
— COGAT (@cogatonline) May 26, 2026
Israel does not and has not blocked medicines from entering Gaza. We actively facilitate the entry… pic.twitter.com/SKKKT7aWtZ
Flotilla-linked activists cause disruptions in Canberra
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has added Australia to the list of countries it accused Gaza flotilla activists of having caused chaos in, posting video on Tuesday of protesters disrupting access to Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra.
“The flotilla anarchists sow chaos wherever they go. Now in Australia. Before that in Spain, Austria, and Greece. The flotilla = provocations and riots,” the ministry wrote.
About 50 anti-Israel demonstrators, including some involved in the flotilla, knelt in the marble foyer with their hands behind their backs to mimic images of detained flotilla members, prompting police and security to shut down the main entrance, Australia’s 9 News reported.
Israeli forces last week intercepted the latest attempt to sail to Gaza and breach the Strip’s maritime blockade, this time organized by the same Turkish group that was behind the 2010 MV Mavi Marmara flotilla. More than 50 vessels, carrying some 400 activists from 45 countries, were stopped in international waters, inside the Israeli-enforced interception zone, which stretches some 150 nautical miles off Gaza’s coast.
Shortly before the first vessels were intercepted by the IDF, Jerusalem’s Foreign Ministry had called on “all participants in this provocation to change course and turn back immediately.”
“The purpose of this provocation is to serve Hamas, to divert attention from Hamas’s refusal to disarm, and to obstruct progress on President Trump’s peace plan,” it continued. The ministry noted that U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which oversees humanitarian aid to Gaza under U.N. Security Council Resolution 2803, previously said the flotillas were “only about publicity.”
Clown parade
— Australian Jewish Association (@AustralianJA) May 26, 2026
Watch as flotilla activists get booted from Federal Parliament.
Everything is a stunt with these guys.
There are always cameras.
This is the anti-Israel movement summed up.
It looks like they even have a wheelchair. pic.twitter.com/pc5l01luab
The work of the righteous is done by others. The flotards lied about being abused by Israel even though Israel barely touched them. They then got the beating they richly deserved at the hands of Israel's enemies, first Egypt and then Spain. pic.twitter.com/KbYPwL7B4P
— Uri Kurlianchik (@VerminusM) May 26, 2026
Founder of group sourced for Kristof story proud of Hamas ties
Allegations contained in the May 11 New York Times article “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians,” by Nicholas Kristof, were repudiated almost from the moment the story was printed, with most of the sources shown to be Hamas-linked.
One of those groups, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, makes no effort to hide its affinity for the terrorist group.
Euro‑Med’s founder and chairman, Ramy Abdu, in a May 20 exchange with British writer and researcher Heidi Bachram, apparently in connection with a photograph of himself with now-deceased Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, said: “I am proud to engage with all segments of my Palestinian people. I do not see for their struggle for the freedom of their homeland anything that places them in the category of terrorism.”
Abdu’s group seems to be behind the most repellent and absurd of Kristof’s claims—that Israelis train dogs to rape Arab prisoners.
“Every piece of evidence points to the Hamas-run NGO as the originator and orchestrator of Nicholas Kristof’s grotesque sexual violence libel in the New York Times,” Gerald M. Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor, told JNS. “Evidence similarly demonstrates that Euro-Med was created in 2011 to demonize Israel under the human rights facade. Abdu and others have many direct links to Hamas.”
Kristof, in his Times piece, referred to Euro-Med simply as “a Geneva-based advocacy group often critical of Israel.”
The Israeli government issued a report in May about Euro-Med’s activities.
“Euro-Med Monitor works with U.N. institutions to promote legal proceedings against Israel with the aim of motivating member states to impose sanctions and arms embargoes against Israel,” the report states.
In Jan. 2025, Euro-Med called for Israel to be included on the U.N. Secretary-General’s blacklist for sexual violence. The group claimed Israel engaged in systematic patterns of sexual violence against Palestinian Arabs. Euro-Med provided testimony that soldiers used dogs against a young Palestinian Arab in a manner that was described as rape, according to the report.
NGO Monitor reported that in Nov. 2020, then-Israeli Minister of Defense Benjamin Gantz signed an administrative seizure order against Euro-Med founder Ramy Abdu under Israel’s anti-terrorism law. Abdu also appeared on a 2013 Israeli list of Hamas’ “main operatives and institutions” in Europe.
Here's why @UnderSecTFI should take a look into Ramy Abdu's Euro-Med:
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) May 26, 2026
🔸️Euro-Med is designated by Israel as a Hamas front.
🔸️Its chief, Ramy Abdu, is named by Israel as a Hamas operative.
🔸️Ramy's name appears in the servers of a U.S.-designated Hamas front (ABSPP) —… https://t.co/9wJ0LfxWwR
Former IDF legal chief dismissed, loses pension over Sde Teiman affair
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir officially dismissed former military advocate-general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the military announced on Tuesday.Iranian hackers behind March’s LA transit system breach, Israeli researchers say
This comes in light of suspicions regarding her involvement in the Sde Teiman affair, the IDF added.
Tomer-Yerushalmi will not be entitled to the “Completion of Service” pension that IDF retirees of her seniority would normally receive, the military said, adding that Zamir would also consider lowering her rank once the criminal proceedings have concluded.
Zamir initially suspended Tomer-Yerushalmi from her position in October 2025 following an investigation by Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara into the video leak of a video detailing the alleged abuse of Palestinian prisoners at Sde Teiman.
Shortly thereafter, Defense Minister Israel Katz attempted to fire Tomer-Yerushalmi, who ultimately resigned after admitting to leaking the video. She argued that the decision was intended to counter misinformation circulating about the case and to demonstrate that the IDF was taking credible action.
“I approved the leaking of evidence to the media in an attempt to confront the false propaganda against the law enforcement officials in the military,” she wrote in her resignation letter.
“I take full responsibility for all of the evidence that was sent out to the media by this unit. Based on this responsibility, I have also decided to conclude my role as the MAG.”
On Tuesday, Katz commended Zamir on his dismissal of Tomer-Yerushalmi, referring to her actions in the Sde Teiman affair as “grave acts that harmed IDF soldiers” and “blood libel.”
Iranian hackers were responsible for a disruptive computer breach in March that forced Los Angeles’ transit system to shut down parts of its network, Israeli researchers say.Iran judiciary suspends presidential body after it ordered internet access restored
The saboteurs stole at least 700 gigabytes of emails, backups and other files from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), according to Gambit Security, a Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity firm that said it discovered the misappropriated data after it was inadvertently exposed online.
In a report published on Tuesday, the company said a digital trail of evidence tied the server where the data was discovered to a previously known hacking operation that Israeli officials and researchers attributed to Tehran.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not return messages seeking comment. Israel’s National Cyber Directorate did not return messages.
The Los Angeles transit authority didn’t respond to questions about the findings. In a statement shared last month, its officials said they were working with law enforcement and cyber specialists as they brought their systems back online. “Attribution is part of the investigation and we will not speculate,” the statement said.
Digital security specialists have suspected an Iranian hand in the operation against the LACMTA ever since responsibility was claimed by an obscure pro-Iran outfit calling itself Ababil of Minab.
The group’s name refers to a US airstrike on a girls’ school in the Iranian city of Minab on February 28 that officials there say killed more than 175 children and teachers, and its rhetoric and modus operandi are characteristic of self-styled vigilante hacker groups that US and Israeli researchers allege are cut-outs for Iranian spies.
Eyal Sela, Gambit’s director of threat intelligence, said a connection between Ababil and the Iranian state “has been a working assumption.”
“What our research adds is the forensic evidence to support it,” he said.
Iran’s judiciary on Tuesday suspended a presidential body that had ordered the restoration of internet access after months of near-total blackout since the war with the United States and Israel.
The judiciary’s Mizan Online website said the ruling suspending the presidential body followed the “filing of complaints,” though it was not immediately clear who had submitted them.
The decision targeted the Special Headquarters for Organizing and Governing the Country’s Cyberspace, a body formed on May 12 by President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The body had on Monday reached a decision to “restore the internet” in Iran, according to government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani, after local media reported that Pezeshkian had decreed the measure.
Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, holds the ultimate authority to restore the internet in the country.
Iranian authorities first imposed sweeping internet restrictions during large-scale anti-government protests that peaked in early January, before shutting access down again on February 28 at the start of the war.
📈 Confirmed: Live metrics show a partial restoration to internet connectivity in #Iran on day 88, after 2093 hours of near-total isolation from international networks, the longest nationwide internet shutdown in modern history. It is unclear if the restoration will be sustained. pic.twitter.com/Fi3z3UCMWp
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) May 26, 2026
Former Iranian Communications Technology Minister Reza Taghipour Threatens to Cut Main Submarine Internet Cables in the Straits of Hormuz and Bab Al-Mandab, Triggering a “Black Swan” Crisis in Global Financial Transactions, Disabling Stock Markets pic.twitter.com/hruT5Qzxua
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) May 26, 2026
Saudi Analyst Mobarak Al-Atty: Saudi Arabia Is Leading a New Arab-Islamic Bloc with Pakistan, Turkey, and Qatar; it Has Put the Brakes on the Abraham Accords and Is Clearing the Region of Israeli Presence pic.twitter.com/SywPPGNKsm
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) May 26, 2026
Former University of South Florida Prof. Sami Al-Arian, Deported from U.S. over Terror Ties: “Zionist Structures” Must Be Dismantled Worldwide; Zionists Must Be Identified and Confronted in Every Society; Columbia University Prof. Joseph Massad: Western Critics of Israel Support… pic.twitter.com/nB3PdvMNJx
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) May 26, 2026
IDF pushes north of Lebanon security zone; Netanyahu says Israel seizing ‘strategic positions’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday that Israel is “intensifying operations” in Lebanon by taking strategic positions and reinforcing the security buffer zone as the IDF pushed past the lines it held as it seeks to counter the recent surge in drone attacks by Hezbollah.IDF strikes 100-plus Hezbollah sites in Southern Lebanon
The announcement, which the premier made during a full security cabinet session Tuesday evening, came as the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that it has expanded ground operations beyond the designated security zone in parts of southern Lebanon in recent days, in an effort to push Hezbollah operatives farther north and reduce the threat of explosive drone attacks on northern Israeli communities.
It also came as the Israeli Air Force escalated its fire against Hezbollah, carrying out over 100 strikes in the Beqaa Valley in eastern Lebanon and across the country’s south overnight and throughout Tuesday.
“We are intensifying our operations in Lebanon. The IDF is operating with significant forces on the ground and taking control of strategically dominant positions. We are reinforcing the security buffer zone in order to protect the communities of northern Israel,” Netanyahu said in a video released by his office.
“At the same time, we are carrying out a major national effort to advance creative and innovative solutions against explosive drones,” he added, after meeting with Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
A day earlier, Netanyahu ordered the IDF to “intensify blows” against the Iran-backed group amid incessant Hezbollah attacks despite the US-brokered ceasefire that is still officially in place.
Channel 12 reported that Zamir had been pressing forcefully to be allowed to take the fight to Hezbollah. Over the past two days, Katz had pushed his message with Netanyahu, who eventually gave the go-ahead.
The Israel Defense Forces overnight on Monday struck more than 100 Hezbollah sites and terrorist operatives in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley and across the country’s south.
In several strikes in the Beqaa Valley, the IDF targeted Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure sites, including a weapons storage facility, the military stated on Tuesday.
One operation in the Beqaa Valley town of Machghara consisted of several strikes carried out within seconds. The aerial assault was said to have eliminated several terrorists.
Across Southern Lebanon, the IDF attacked more than 90 arms caches, command centers, observation posts and other sites used by Hezbollah “to advance attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians,” it stated.
A senior U.S. official on Monday blamed Hezbollah for the necessity of Israeli action in Southern Lebanon, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’d given the military authorization to deal the Iranian-backed terror group “a crushing blow.”
Hezbollah “has ignored repeated requests to stop firing at Israel,” the official said, adding that the Jewish state “will never be expected to passively absorb attacks on its forces and civilians.”
Iranian-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones at Israel on March 2, following the targeted killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during the opening stages of “Operation Roaring Lion” on Feb. 28.
In response to repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement, Israel launched a broad aerial campaign against Hezbollah targets and expanded military operations in Southern Lebanon aimed at preventing cross-border attacks on northern Israeli communities.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today, at the start of the Security Cabinet meeting:
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 26, 2026
"As per the directive of myself, the Defense Minister and the IDF Chief of Staff, we are deepening our operation in Lebanon. The IDF is operating with large forces on the ground and seizing… pic.twitter.com/GBLuWgEbyl
Mohammed Odeh, newly appointed Hamas mllitary chief, reportedly killed in Israeli strike
The IDF struck a building in Gaza City on Tuesday night in an attempt to kill Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed leader of Hamas’ military wing and one of the architects of the October 7 massacre. New Israeli assessments indicate he was likely killed in the strike, though no official confirmation has been issued by either the IDF or Hamas.
Odeh replaced Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza City just 10 days earlier. A security official said Israeli officials believe Odeh did not survive the strike, though neither the IDF nor Hamas has issued an official statement. The strike was carried out by two fighter jets.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Odeh served as head of Hamas’ intelligence headquarters during the Oct. 7 attack and was appointed last week to replace Haddad.
“Odeh was responsible for the murder, abduction and wounding of many Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers,” Netanyahu and Katz said in a joint statement. “We will continue to pursue everyone who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre. Sooner or later, Israel will reach them all.”
The IDF first released Odeh’s photo last September. He was previously reported to have taken command of Hamas’ northern Gaza brigade after Ahmed Ghandour was killed in November 2023. He may also have received additional powers, including those once held by Raad Saad, who was considered Hamas’ military chief of staff until he was killed in an Israeli strike in December.
In a photo released by the IDF showing senior Hamas military commanders in Gaza at the time of the Oct. 7 attack, Odeh was the only one who had not been killed, aside from Imad Aqel, head of Hamas’ home front command in Gaza.
The IDF has struck Muhammad Ouda in Gaza, the newly appointed head of Hamas’s military wing and a key figure in the October 7 massacre.
— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) May 26, 2026
Ouda, who led Hamas intelligence on Oct 7, replaced Az al-Din al-Haddad after his elimination two weeks ago. He was responsible for attacks… pic.twitter.com/xnOHopqUvr
Israel says French-Palestinian lawyer operated East Jerusalem terror network from overseas
Law enforcement uncovered a terror network in East Jerusalem allegedly operated from overseas by the French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri, the Shin Bet and Israel Police said Tuesday.
Hamouri, whose Jerusalem residency was revoked by the government in 2022 over his ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group, allegedly recruited five Palestinians from the city to “promote militant terror activity within Israel,” the joint statement read.
Hamouri was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in a PFLP-linked plot to assassinate former Sephardi chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef in 2005, but was released early in a 2011 hostage-prisoner swap with Hamas.
Israel maintained that even after his release, Hamouri remained active in the group.
“Hamouri exploits his origins and ties to Israeli territory to recruit local terror operatives, while simultaneously conducting open activity related to the Palestinian issue,” said the Shin Bet and police.
“The terror activity he advances is conducted in a covert manner in parallel, under the guise of legitimate activism.”
Hamouri, who currently resides in France, allegedly met with members of the cell in various locations throughout Europe from 2024 to 2025 and equipped them with encrypted mobile phones with the aim of carrying out attacks in Israel.
The five suspects in the alleged network were arrested in November and December last year, the Shin Bet and police said.
A major line of operation continues, the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip to include the destruction of every tunnel, kilometer by kilometer. Vital to any chance at peace or stability in Gaza. The IDF last estimated the Gaza tunnel network around 1,000 kilometers (a lot… https://t.co/HN42Ova0XI
— John Spencer (@SpencerGuard) May 26, 2026
More than two and a half years later: A huge and important operation by the Northern Brigade and Yahelm Unit 252 was completed to destroy 11 kilometers of underground infrastructure in Beit Hanoun, an area that the IDF considers a Hamas stronghold in the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/Tb36sk5E7W
— Eli Afriat 🇮🇱 (@EliAfriatISR) May 26, 2026
While Hamas & PIJ have not identified Al-Astal as a fighter (yet), family members have. In this post on the day of his death, a cousin lauds him as a "mujahid" and others as a hero. He probably was a PIJ operative in Al-Saqqa's squad. 2/ pic.twitter.com/oZDvMUTT2Q
— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) May 26, 2026
This strike was one of those sensationalized strikes where the local “civil defense”—otherwise known as Hamas— told the media that Israel struck innocent displaced people on hospital grounds for no reason. NBC covered it as did other outlets. Israel was not believed at all. 2/ pic.twitter.com/JSOTXN7DxL
— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) May 26, 2026
How do we know Muhammad Ibrahim Ali Bahader (ID 801573197, Age 37) was killed in this specific hospital strike as IDF said? Because Palestinian websites & social media publicly report his death at the hospital at this date as a "civilian." But PIJ revealed: he’s a commander. 4/ pic.twitter.com/eIqrOAsitU
— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) May 26, 2026
Amnesty, doing a shoutout for Dr Hamas.
— Joo (@JoosyJew) May 26, 2026
Here he is, wearing a Hamas uniform alongside other senior officers in the Islamist terror muřder club. https://t.co/fd63YC6yPz pic.twitter.com/QikFRKlNqm
Commentary Podcast: On Again, Off Again
We are back to discuss the long weekend's rollercoaster news cycle regarding a forming peace deal with Iran that has yet to materialize, culminating in American strikes on Iranian assets in the Strait of Hormuz. Plus, the leveraging of social media for political advertising, and John recommends the movie Tuner.Caroline Glick: The Media Think The Iran War Is Over, They’re Sorely Mistaken!
Caroline Glick, International Affairs Advisor to PM Netanyahu, sits down with Former director of the Israeli Government Press Office, Danny Seaman, to reveal how Hezbollah’s new drone warfare tactics, copied from the Russia-Ukraine war, are reshaping the battlefield and threatening Israeli civilians and soldiers alike. You’ll learn why Israel believes Hezbollah has effectively turned Lebanon into an Iranian colony, how underground tunnel networks and civilian infrastructure are once again being weaponized against Israel and why the so-called ceasefire may actually be enabling Hezbollah to regroup. The conversation also unpacks Israel’s broader strategic vision after the war, from defeating Iran’s regional “ring of fire”, to expanding the Abraham Accords and transforming Israel into a central economic and technological hub connecting East and West. If you want to understand the real stakes behind the Lebanon front and Israel’s long-term strategy for survival and regional leadership, this episode is essential viewing.
Ben Shapiro: Debunking The NYT: Iran
The mainstream media wants you to believe that America is weak, Iran is strong, and China is ascendant. Ben Shapiro shows you how the media narrative collapses the moment you apply basic facts and logic.
FDD: What's the deal with the Iran deal? | feat. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus & Behnam Ben Taleblu
FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer hosts a special SITREP featuring FDD experts Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus and Behnam Ben Taleblu.
They dissect the latest on the Iran deal: what we know, what we don't, and what we're watching.
I thought they believed in the Right of Return. https://t.co/lpElPchnbL
— The Mossad: Satirical and Awesome (@TheMossadIL) May 26, 2026
If this is the response one gets for reporting a post that calls for a bounty of $100,000 for the murder of random Israelis whose profiles were pulled from LinkedIn, then the problem is dire.@X @Safety @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/FbNgpzq2dP
— The Mossad: Satirical and Awesome (@TheMossadIL) May 26, 2026
“What Does X Want?”
— Jake Donnelly (@RedWhiteBlueJew) May 26, 2026
X just said wants your eyeballs. It wants your eyeballs to linger on literally anything so long as it is on X.
As @AIandDesign pointed out, it doesn’t matter if it’s unethical, so long as you get people to spend more time on the platform, X will reward you:… pic.twitter.com/ETOpZeF2fV
Just another day at @NPR:
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 26, 2026
❌ Calling Israel’s presence in southern Lebanon “occupation” and referring to “waves of airstrikes” while omitting the reason: Hezbollah’s repeated indiscriminate attacks on northern Israel.
❌ Claiming the war “began in March,” erasing the fact that… pic.twitter.com/M9BCUstoRR
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Reclaiming the Covenant on America's 250th (May 2026) "He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022) |
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