Friday, June 05, 2026

06/04 Links Pt1: The UN is being used as a weapon against the West; Hamas Documents Reveal the Real October 7 Plan; Netanyahu: "I'd Rather Get a Bad Editorial in the Western Press than a Positive Obituary"

From Ian:

The UN is being used as a weapon against the West
The systemic rot extends far beyond the rapporteurs (and there are many more instances in the report). Let’s not forget that Iran was handed oversight of UN women’s rights, while China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia control the committee that decides which human-rights groups get access to the UN. And then there is UNRWA – the UN’s refugee agency, some of whose staff participated in the 7 October massacre.

The UN’s obsession with Israel seems to be getting more deranged by the day. Recently, it placed Israel on its blacklist of countries and parties that used sexual violence as a weapon of war. So Israel, a liberal democracy, now sits on the same list as Hamas – whose 7 October atrocities included systematic rape and sexual torture – and ISIS. The situation could hardly be any more absurd.

UN Watch calls for ‘major reform’. I understand the instinct, but you cannot reform a rotting corpse. The problem is that the UN continually hands influence to regimes that abuse human rights most egregiously, granting authoritarian propaganda a veneer of legitimacy. Every time Western governments treat UN reports as serious documents – or allow tyrants control of key councils without objection – they signal to the world that this system has credibility. It doesn’t.

The UN has become one of the most dangerous instruments in modern geopolitics. Authoritarian regimes are using the UN’s prestige to normalise their behavior, conceal their crimes and peddle anti-Western propaganda. It should terrify all of us that the world’s most trusted watchdog has been successfully leveraged as a PR firm for tyrants.

The time for decisive action is now. One way for democracies to reclaim control is by freezing funding, forcing audits, and purging compromised staff who are actively on the payroll of hostile regimes.

The UN was built to protect civilisation. It is now being used as a weapon against it. Going along with the charade only plays into the hands of our enemies.
Netanyahu: "I'd Rather Get a Bad Editorial in the Western Press than a Positive Obituary"
Asked about his relationship with President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday: "We agree on the main things. We want to get the nuclear program in Iran finished. We want to make sure that Iran doesn't pose a threat to Israel, to the Middle East, to America, that it doesn't develop nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, not only to Israel and to every capital in Europe, but to every city in the United States. That's our common goal. That's what we set out to do."

"Sometimes, as in the best of families, you have these tactical disagreements. We always find a way to work them out, and we do so as great friends. We can disagree in the morning, and by the afternoon we have common actions....He's been the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House, and he respects me. I respect him. We always find a way to work out our differences."

"I think he understands that Lebanon has been taken hostage by Hizbullah....It's an Iranian proxy that...uses Lebanon as a platform to launch terror missiles into our cities, to launch killer drones against our civilians. So if we want to save Lebanon, if we want to get a Lebanese-Israeli peace, as I do, we have to disarm Hizbullah, and we have to demilitarize Lebanon....I know that this is a goal that the President and I share."

"The escalation is from Hizbullah. We had a ceasefire, they violated it. Look, the way European leaders cater to radical Islamic minorities in their own countries is shameful because they know the truth....They know we're protecting them as well, but they don't have the guts to stand up and line up with the right thing that will save our civilization against these barbarians."

"We're faced with an enemy that wants to destroy our country, that wants to destroy your country, that wants to destroy free democracies everywhere, and spread their terrorist ilk around the globe. So, when we fight Iran and its proxies, we're not only fighting our war, we're fighting your war and, frankly, Europe's war as well."

"[Do] I have to stop protecting my people because I'm going to get a bad editorial in the Western press? The answer is no. I'd rather get a bad editorial than a positive obituary. You know, our people have died long enough, and what has changed for us is that the kind of recriminations and the kind of lies that are leveled at the Jewish people over the centuries are now being leveled at the Jewish state. There's no difference. We deliberately kill children, we perform genocide, we're poisoning the wells."

"Since the birth of the State of Israel, we're still being vilified, but when they come to slaughter us, we say no more, never again. And we fight back, targeting the terrorists, targeting the aggressors, trying to save the people, trying to save those communities, and believe me, in the Middle East, contrary to what people think, many understand that."
Khaled Abu Toameh: What Happens When Jihadists Smell Weakness
The message emerging from Hamas -- and Iran -- is unambiguous: Hamas and Iran believe they are winning.

Iran has been dictating to Washington when and with whom it will negotiate. Washington apparently never insisted upon face-to-face negotiations with Iran. Why not? By discontinuing talks with the US, Iran also succeeded in maneuvering the Trump Administration into two huge victories for the current regime. First, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out in "Iran Gets Trump to Rescue Hezbollah," US President Donald J. Trump demanded that Israel stop defending itself against attacks from another proxy of Iran: Hezbollah in Lebanon. Second, Iran -- as a result of a much-publicized shouting match between Trump and Netanyahu – masterfully created "daylight" between its two main adversaries: Israel and the United States.

Even though Iran's weapons have been decimated, the current regime, run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has reportedly been using its leisurely, ever-extending ceasefire to rebuild them. The IRGC has been calling the shots and has stood up to the "Great Satan," the US. No wonder the regime thinks it is winning.

These are not the words of a defeated terror organization. These are the words of a group that believes time is on its side.

Abu Obeida's remarks are particularly alarming because they come after nearly three years of war, the elimination of many top Hamas leaders, and countless declarations by international mediators that Hamas would eventually be removed from power.

Instead, Hamas is still standing. Hamas, like Iran, appears increasingly confident.

The "Board of Peace" was supposedly created to bring stability to the Gaza Strip, end Hamas rule, and establish a new political reality after the war.

The truth is that the "Board of Peace" has failed in its central mission. Six months after Trump's ceasefire initiative and almost three years after the October 7 atrocities, Hamas remains in power. It continues to control large parts of the Gaza Strip, maintains its military infrastructure, and openly refuses to disarm

Recent reports that the Trump Administration pressured Israel to cancel a planned strike against Hezbollah targets in Beirut's Dahiya district sent a troubling message throughout the region.

For Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, any indication of friction between the US and Israel is good news. Terrorists thrive on the perception that their adversaries are divided.

Across the Middle East, terrorist organizations constantly search for signs of weakness among their enemies. Jihadists interpret "restraint" quite differently from the way Western policymakers do. What many Western leaders describe as diplomacy, patience, or de-escalation is frequently seen by Islamists as surrender, fear or exhaustion.

The October 7 massacre was partly the result of Hamas's belief that Israel had become weak, divided, and vulnerable. Today, Hamas appears once again to be reaching similar conclusions. This expectation should deeply concern policymakers in Washington.


Condoleezza Rice: What the U.S. Has Accomplished in Iran
The war against Iran has been a limited war, but it has achieved enough to produce a far better Middle East. The three-month military campaign degraded Iran's ability to project power by significantly damaging its conventional forces, missile stockpiles and proxies. It set back Iranian nuclear ambitions significantly. It will be a long time before Iran can build a viable nuclear weapon. It also drew America, Israel and the Arab states closer together through defense cooperation and intelligence sharing.

Israel responded furiously to the terrorist attack of Oct. 7, 2023, and pummeled Iranian proxies, including Hizbullah and Hamas, that threaten its population. Many Arab regimes no longer question Israel's legitimacy; instead, they seek the benefits of technological and economic cooperation with Israel.

Iran is far weaker today than it was in February. No amount of Iranian propaganda can mask this reality. America's near-term goals should be to keep it in that weakened state and to make certain that President Trump's promise that Iran will never possess a nuclear weapon is fulfilled.

Once the Strait of Hormuz is opened, if the administration engages in nuclear negotiations, it's critical that not a single penny of frozen assets or sanctions relief should go to Tehran. Under the 2015 deal, Iran used the money to rebuild its capabilities and those of its proxies. It would do so again. The U.S. must maintain military readiness in the region and the will to attack again if the Iranians begin to rebuild their nuclear infrastructure or missile capabilities.

Strategic patience is hard, but time is on the side of the U.S. and its allies. Reaching no deal is fine. Reaching a bad deal isn't.
Energy Markets Limit the Hormuz Shock
Before the Gulf crisis, about 70 oil and natural gas tankers traversed the Strait of Hormuz every day. During May, four did.

Yet, much has been learned about energy security over the past half century, mitigating what could have been a catastrophic energy shock. Today there is much more variety in world oil and natural gas than during the energy crises of the 1970s.

The shale revolution has transformed the U.S. from the world's largest importer of oil to the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas and largest exporter of liquefied natural gas.

Canada is the world's fourth-largest oil producer. Brazil produces four times as much oil as Venezuela; and in Guyana, where production began only seven years ago, output almost equals Venezuela's.

In Argentina's Vaca Muerta region, shale oil production has grown sixfold since 2020. The current disruption will propel more oil and gas investment in the Western Hemisphere and Africa.

Saudi Arabia built variety in the form of a pipeline system that now moves 7 million barrels of oil a day west to the Red Sea. Abu Dhabi built a pipeline looping around the Strait of Hormuz and plans to double capacity by 2027.

France, which once depended on oil for electric generation, now relies mainly on nuclear.
The Strait of Hormuz Is Getting Less Dire by the Day
With every passing day, the world is learning to live without the Gulf's seaborne exports.

When gas prices rise rapidly, people limit their driving. Walmart reported that customers are now buying less than 10 gallons of gas at a time on average at its filling stations.

Markets locate new supplies when the old ones are suddenly cut off. The U.S., Brazil, Canada, Kazakhstan and Venezuela are increasing their oil production.

China has begun to get more oil from Russia, Central Asia and the U.S. South Korea is securing supplies from Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Canada.

Japan is cultivating alternative suppliers in Colombia and Mexico and expanding its nuclear capacity. U.S. jet fuel exports may help European airlines avoid significant cutbacks to their summer schedules.

Choke points rarely last. The longer the Strait remains blocked, the less important oil from the Strait becomes.

Oil prices have drifted lower recently not because traders expect a swift rebound in Strait shipping, but because they see supply and demand rebalancing.
Iran Regime Attacks Own Economic Lifeline in UAE
The United Arab Emirates has served as a major trading partner for Iran and is one of Iran's principal sanctions-evasion hubs, Arman Mahmoudian, a research associate at the University of South Florida's Center for Strategic & Diplomatic Studies, told the Jerusalem Post on Monday.

The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned numerous UAE-based companies and financial institutions for facilitating Iranian petroleum and petrochemical exports, and helping Tehran evade international sanctions.

Dr. Kristian Alexander, lead researcher at the Emirates-based Rabdan Security and Defense Institute, said Iran's "heavy strikes against UAE infrastructure risk undermining one of Tehran's own economic escape valves."

Mahmoudian suggested that Tehran saw the attacks on its neighbors as necessary, understanding that it had a greater chance of defeating the U.S. with economic coercion than with military warfare.

"By attacking economic targets in the region, Iran was trying to increase pressure on energy markets and energy prices."
How Chinese Satellites Support Iran
During the recent war, Iran's Revolutionary Guards targeted high-value U.S. military assets across the region, from strategic aircraft to expensive radar sites. They were likely cued by foreign space-based targeting data.

Open-source indicators suggest that satellite imagery and geospatial-intelligence support from the People's Republic of China helped Tehran identify and prioritize critical American capabilities.

In May 2026, the Trump administration sanctioned several China-based firms for providing satellite imagery that enabled Iranian strikes against U.S. forces. v China-based MizarVision published open-source imagery of U.S. activity during the war, while Earth Eye, a Chinese remote-sensing entity, provided satellite imagery directly to Tehran.

Chang Guang Satellite Technology, linked to the People's Liberation Army, collected and supplied Iran with imagery of U.S. and allied military facilities.

In April 2025, the U.S. State Department announced that Chang Guang had supported the Houthis in targeting maritime activity in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Uri Kurlianchik: It Didn't Start in 1982: The Five Worst Massacres Terrorists From South Lebanon Committed In Israel Before the Invasion
Hezbollah claims it was created as a response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, implying that prior to the invasion, Lebanon was a peaceful neighbor.

This leads people to imagine Israel decided to cross the border and “steal” Lebanese land out of the blue, though one wonders towards what purpose, since no Israeli settlements were created in Lebanon, nor was the population deliberately displaced.

Did Israel start a major war just for fun?

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The reality of the matter is that Israel never attacked a country that didn’t attack it first or supported attacks against it, and Lebanon is no different. Just like Israel’s current invasion of Lebanon, the 1982 invasion of Lebanon was a defensive response to annihilaionist aggression against the Jewish state.

Before 1982, hundreds of attacks were launched against Israel from South Lebanon, mostly by Palestinian militants who were expelled there from Jordan in 1971. One wonders why they didn’t attack Jordan just as hard for expelling them, but that’s a subject for a different story.

These attacks have killed hundreds of Israelis and injured over a thousand between 1970 and 1982, the vast majority of them civilians and many of them children. Often, attackers from Lebanon went out of their way to target Israeli children. In some cases, they literally snatched babies from their cribs.

In many ways, their level of sadism was a precursor to the atrocities of October 7. In fact, until October 7, one of these attacks was the bloodiest in Israeli history.

Below are five of the most infamous attacks launched from Lebanon against Israeli civilians before 1982.

Shove them in the face of anyone who tries to gaslight you by claiming the only reason Hezbollah exists is to “resist” Israel.
House passes war powers resolution to limit Trump's military authority in Iran
The US House of Representatives passed a war powers resolution on Wednesday seeking to halt military action against Iran without congressional authorization. This is seen as a rare defeat to President Donald Trump as four Republicans broke ranks to side with Democrats in a 215-208 vote.

All Democrats present voted for the measure. The four Republicans who crossed party lines were Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Tom Barrett of Michigan. Massie said after the vote that "people are tired of this," citing high fuel prices and the cost of fertilizer as drivers of public frustration. Fitzpatrick defended his vote on procedural grounds, arguing the War Powers Act required Congress to weigh in.

The resolution was introduced by Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who said every Democrat voted for the measure. "It is time for the president to do the right thing," Meeks said. "The people are tired of suffering because of his war of choice."

The vote was the fourth attempt by the House to curb US military action against Iran since the conflict began on February 28, when the US joined Israel in launching strikes on Iran. Each successive vote has drawn more support as public and political unease with the war has grown. A Fox News poll published in May found roughly six in ten voters oppose military action against Iran, though 72% said the US is winning.


House rejects Tlaib’s Lebanon war powers effort
The House rejected a war powers resolution by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) on Thursday that aimed to block U.S. support for Israeli operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, after House Democratic leaders publicly came out against the effort.

But the Democratic leaders said they would support a future effort by Tlaib along similar lines that will include carveouts for other U.S. operations inside Lebanon, indicating that Tlaib’s next effort is likely to pick up greater Democratic support.

The resolution failed by a vote of 324-92, with most votes in favor of the resolution coming from progressive House Democrats, though several more moderate lawmakers also voted in favor. The Congressional Progressive Caucus whipped in favor of the resolution. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was the only Republican who supported the effort, and 117 Democrats — a majority of the caucus — voted against it.

Reps. Betty McCollum (D-MN) and Derek Tran (D-CA) voted present.

Tlaib’s resolution, which directed the administration to “remove the United States Armed Forces from Lebanon” within seven days, aimed to cut off U.S. logistical and intelligence support for Israeli operations against Hezbollah. Tlaib has consistently ignored or downplayed Hezbollah’s role in the conflict, describing Israel’s operations as being against Lebanon and the Lebanese people writ large.

Democratic critics said that the legislation would also require the U.S. to remove military guards from its diplomatic facilities and U.S. servicemembers that train and advise the Lebanese Armed Forces. Tlaib insisted that other U.S. operations would be able to continue, in spite of the strict wording in her legislation that indicated they would be impacted.
House committee blocks effort to strip U.S.-Israel cooperation provision from annual defense bill
The House Armed Services Committee blocked an amendment that sought to strip a relatively routine provision on U.S.-Israel cooperation out of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act by a bipartisan voice vote.

Leaders of the committee on both sides of the aisle spoke out against the amendment, led by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), saying that critics of the provision — who have claimed it would fuse the U.S. and Israeli militaries or subvert U.S. sovereignty — were misrepresenting the legislation.

The provision, Section 224 of the bill, builds upon existing U.S.-Israel cooperative programs in developing and acquiring defense technologies and requires the Pentagon to designate a single official to oversee all U.S.-Israel cooperative programs.

Khanna said, in introducing the amendment, that the “American people are tired of the arrogance and insolence of Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu telling America what we should do,” and described the amendment as a handout of additional U.S. support for Israel. He suggested that it would undermine U.S. sovereignty.

He also claimed, falsely, that Netanyahu had written to the sponsors of the NDAA provision praising them for it and framing it as his initiative and a way to subvert congressional oversight and approval.

Despite misrepresentations online, Netanyahu’s letter pertained to a separate piece of legislation endorsing his call to wind down U.S. aid to Israel, though both touch on the idea of expanding U.S.-Israel cooperative programs and co-development.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pushed back.


Trump says US can get uranium from Iran without a deal
US President Donald Trump tells reporters that Washington does not need a deal with Iran to get enriched uranium from the country.

“We could get it right now. I don’t think they could stop us if we wanted, but there’s no reason to. It’s entombed,” he says.

Trump also says that he did not want to meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, but adds that “I’d be honored to meet him.”

He says if Washington and Tehran reached a deal, it was possible that the two would meet and adds, “If it happened… I’d be respectful.”

“In some circles he has a very good reputation actually,” he says of Khamenei.
Iran defends strikes after deadly Kuwait airport attack
Iran’s foreign minister on Wednesday defended ongoing strikes on regional sites linked to U.S. operations, warning of a “decisive response” to any further hostile acts, hours after Kuwait reported casualties from an Iranian attack on its territory.

In a post on X, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran’s armed forces were carrying out “self-defense strikes” on locations being used to “attack civilian shipping and violate the ceasefire.” He added that “what sanctions and war failed to achieve won’t be won with more war.”



The statement accompanied a video clip of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio praising regional allies, including the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, for their cooperation.

Earlier on Wednesday, Kuwait said Iranian drone and missile strikes hit key civilian infrastructure, including Kuwait International Airport, killing one person and wounding dozens. The Health Ministry reported at least 63 injuries, with seven urgent major surgeries performed.
Hezbollah rejects ceasefire after US announces ceasefire between Israel, Lebanon
Hezbollah rejected a ceasefire plan agreed by the Lebanese and Israeli governments in US-mediated talks, as Israel kept up strikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday and said it wouldn't be withdrawing from the south.

Later on Thursday, AFP reported that Hezbollah had informed Lebanese authorities that it had rejected the ceasefire with Israel.

The United States announced on Wednesday that Lebanon and Israel had agreed to implement a ceasefire contingent on Iran-backed Hezbollah ceasing fire and evacuating its fighters from areas of southern Lebanon near the border.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said the negotiations were shameless, rejecting the Washington declaration as "a roadmap for the annihilation of a section of the Lebanese people and the enslavement of the rest."

"As long as the occupation exists, the resistance will continue," he said in a written statement.

An Israeli official, however, said that Hezbollah is not one of the parties involved in the negotiations.

"We are not negotiating with Hezbollah," he stated. "Israel, Lebanon, and the United States are working to implement a ceasefire based on the understanding that Hezbollah will be disarmed and southern Lebanon will be demilitarized.”

“For the first time, all three sides are aligned in their determination to remove the Iranian terrorist branch Hezbollah from the equation,” he added.


UNIFIL peacekeeper killed in Hezbollah attack in Lebanon’s south, IDF says
A mortar shell fired by Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists hit a UNIFIL position and killed a U.N. peacekeeper in southeastern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday.

“Overnight, the IDF identified several launches in the area of Al-Qatrani carried out by the Hezbollah terrorist organization that landed inside a UNIFIL force position in the Dibbine area in Southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement. “As a result of the launches, a U.N. personnel member was killed, and two others were injured.”

The IDF said that its examination of the mortar shell’s trajectory “clearly indicates” that it was fired by Hezbollah.

“Hezbollah’s launches endanger international forces and also harm U.N. personnel operating in the area,” the army said.

Earlier on Thursday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon confirmed that one peacekeeper had succumbed to his wounds after being airlifted to a Beirut hospital.

“UNIFIL has launched an investigation to ascertain the exact circumstances that led to this tragic incident,” the force stated, without mentioning Hezbollah or the IDF.

“Deliberate attacks on peacekeepers are grave violations of international humanitarian law and of Security Council Resolution 1701, and may amount to war crimes,” UNIFIL noted.

Media reports identified the slain peacekeeper as a Serbian national. The two other casualties are Spanish citizens, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez confirmed.


Soldier killed in anti-tank missile attack as Hezbollah rejects Lebanon ceasefire proposal
An IDF officer was killed in a Hezbollah anti-tank guided missile attack in southern Lebanon on Thursday, as the Iran-backed terror group rejected a ceasefire plan agreed to by the Lebanese and Israeli governments in US-mediated talks.

The military named the slain officer as Cpt. Eitan Shmuel Lemberg, 21, of the 7th Armored Brigade’s 75th Battalion, from Mishmar HaShiv’a.

At around 4 p.m., a Hezbollah operative fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli tank operating north of the Litani River, killing Lemberg.

Immediately after the attack, the Israel Defense Forces said that it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the area from the air and with artillery.

The deadly incident came a day after Jerusalem and Beirut agreed on a ceasefire contingent on Hezbollah halting attacks, and planned for the Lebanese army to deploy to “pilot” zones in southern Lebanon free from both Hezbollah operatives and IDF troops.
In first, female IDF combat soldier completes training for elite Sayeret Matkal unit
For the first time, a female combat soldier completed training in the Israeli military’s elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Thursday.

The pilot program for women to serve in Sayeret Matkal began in December 2024 as part of the IDF’s efforts to open more roles for female fighters.

One servicewoman passed preliminary screenings and “met the required criteria,” completing on Thursday a “training track specifically designed for her, which lasted more than a year and a half,” the IDF said in a statement.

The soldier would soon be integrated into the unit’s operational activities, in accordance with “operational needs” and subject to the IDF’s protocols on men and women serving together, the military said.

The IDF said it “congratulates the soldier on her significant and groundbreaking achievement.”

The army has insisted that it is allowing more women to serve in combat positions out of practical considerations, not due to a progressive social agenda.

“At this time, maximizing the service potential of male and female soldiers from all sectors and populations is an imperative, and the IDF will continue to work toward this goal,” the military added.

Sayeret Matkal, known in English as the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, is one of the IDF’s elite commando units. It operates under the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Special Operations Division. Much of the unit’s activities remain a secret.


Senior Hamas officials killed in Gaza strikes, IDF says; 9 Palestinians reported dead
The Israeli Air Force and Israeli Navy carried out strikes in the Gaza Strip overnight into Thursday, killing top commanders in Hamas’s general security mechanism, the military announced.

According to health officials in Gaza, at least nine Palestinians were killed in strikes on four apartments early on Thursday.

Hassan Labad, the deputy head of the security mechanism, along with senior officials Asem Shabir, Abdullah Abu Kaloub, and Mohammed Abu Marek, were killed in the strikes, the Israel Defense Forces said.

“The senior officials of the general security mechanism were eliminated to remove a threat, after they were recently involved in attempts to rebuild the Hamas terror organization and assisted the organization’s senior leadership in advancing terror activity against the State of Israel and IDF troops,” the military said in a statement.

The security mechanism, according to the IDF, is a clandestine Hamas body responsible for security for top Hamas officials, communications between them, coordinating their meetings, and transporting them between emergency sites.


Netanyahu condemns Haredi draft dodgers over attack on Supreme Court justice’s home
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday condemned ultra-Orthodox rioters who attacked the home of Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg.

After speaking with Sohlberg, who serves as the court’s deputy president and is widely regarded as one of its more conservative justices, Netanyahu reiterated his “strongest condemnation” of the attack on the judge and his family.

“The prime minister inquired after the well-being of Justice Sohlberg and his family and made it clear that he expects law enforcement authorities to take a hard line against the rioters,” according to the statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Sixty-two Haredim were detained after trying to break into the 64-year-old judge’s private residence in the Judea community of Alon Shvut.

Pictures from the scene showed shattered windows, broken flowerpots and a car with a smashed windshield. Israeli flags bearing a swastika in place of the Star of David were also left behind by the anti-Zionist rioters.

A Magen David Adom medical team was called to the Sohlberg home after the justice reported feeling unwell, according to Ynet. Sohlberg and his wife were both home at the time of the incident.

“A Jew taking a stone and throwing it at another Jew’s home is something tragic, intolerable and incomprehensible,” Meira Sohlberg told reporters following the attack.

She added, “There is always a minority that carries out severe provocations. We are not afraid, but we are saddened. It would be good if people lowered the flames—from every direction, every side and every sector. We cannot fight one another when we have so many enemies around us. Disagreement is fine, but destruction? How is that possible?”
Israeli deputy FM: UNRWA is a terrorist organization
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) says it is operating in Judea and Samaria (which it calls the West Bank) assisting 33,000 displaced Palestinian refugees.

UNRWA attributes the mass displacement of Palestinians primarily to what it terms ongoing Israel Defense Forces military operations, heavy bombardment, forced evacuation orders and “settler violence.”

Israel has often disputed the methodology and attribution behind U.N.-reported statistics.

In an email exchange with JNS, UNRWA’s media department says it has set up 12 temporary clinics to ensure continued access to healthcare and is distributing supplies and shelters to displaced families.

Furthermore, UNRWA says it has been working to ensure that the education of Palestinian children is not further disrupted, including by running remote learning programs.

However, some leading Israeli officials and experts on UNRWA question the legitimacy of the group’s activities.

Dr. Einat Wilf, who has written extensively on UNRWA’s perpetuation of the permanent “refugee problem,” told JNS there is zero reason for UNRWA to be operating in Judea and Samaria under the Palestinian Authority.


Call me Back Podcast: The Lebanon Trap - with Nadav Eyal and Amit Segal
Is President Trump saving Israel from a war it can’t win, or forcing it into a deal that leaves Hezbollah intact and Israeli soldiers and citizens vulnerable?

President Trump announced a ceasefire in Lebanon. Hezbollah agreed to stop firing rockets into Israel. Israel agreed to not strike Beirut. Yet the fighting in southern Lebanon continues, IDF soldiers are being killed and injured by Hezbollah rockets and drones, and the strategic problem remains unsolved.

Dan is joined by Nadav Eyal and Amit Segal to discuss Trump’s explosive phone call and pressures on Netanyahu, the link between Lebanon and the Iran negotiations, and whether this moment represents an off-ramp from an unwinnable conflict or a pause that leaves Israel’s hands tied and facing the same dangerous dilemma in southern Lebanon.

In this episode:
04:48 - Trump's expletive-laced confrontation with Netanyahu over Lebanon
06:42 - What the new Lebanon "ceasefire" actually means
10:09 - Why Hezbollah's drone campaign is hurting Netanyahu politically
13:21 - Is the “Lebanon Trap” also possibly an off-ramp for Israel?
21:09 - What is really driving Netanyahu's decision-making?
23:30 - How Lebanon became part of the Iran negotiations
26:39 - Does Hezbollah's fate ultimately depend on Iran?
28:36 - Is Hezbollah weaker today, or stronger by adapting for the next war?


Live from the Table: The Hamas Documents Reveal the Real October 7 Plan
Comedy Cellar USA: Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Professor Daniel Sobelman. They discuss his research into the strategic origins of October 7, the captured Hamas documents recovered during the war, how Israel's deterrence strategy failed and what the future of warfare means for Israel and the region.

Sobelman explains why Hamas believed it could fundamentally alter the balance of power, what Israeli leaders misunderstood before October 7 and why the next generation of conflict may be driven by cheap drones, precision weapons, and asymmetric warfare.

Daniel Sobelman is a professor of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in Israel, and a research fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School's Middle East Initiative. His area of expertise is the conflict and deterrence dynamics between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. His current research focuses on the strategic foundations of Hamas's October 7th attack. His recent book is entitled "Axis of Resistance: Asymmetric Conflicts and Rules of the Game in Contemporary Middle East Conflicts."

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
01:30 The article that changed the October 7 debate
06:25 How Hamas deterred Israel
15:25 Buying quiet: Qatar money and Hamas leverage
20:10 The captured Hamas documents
22:30 Hamas's plan for a regional war
26:25 How bad October 7 could have been
39:00 The documents discussing Israel's destruction
46:25 Would Hamas ever accept a two-state solution?
53:35 Israel's future after October 7
01:01:05 Can Israel reverse its global isolation?


Iranian-French cartoonist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi dies at 56
Acclaimed Iranian-French cartoonist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi, a prominent advocate for women’s rights, has died at 56, the French presidency said Thursday.

“Her passing marks the loss of a leading figure of French culture and an artist devoted to freedom, whose work carried a universal message and earned her immense international acclaim,” the French presidency said in a statement.

President Emmanuel Macron and his wife “pay tribute to a remarkable artist who transformed an Iranian childhood into a universal fable,” the statement said.

News broadcaster BFM TV and other French media reported Satrapi had “died of sadness” a little over a year after the death of her husband, Swedish film producer and actor Mattias Ripa, according to a statement from people close to the artist.

The French Academy of Fine Arts, of which she was a member, expressed its deep sadness in a social media statement, paying tribute to “a passionate advocate for cinema and film education” who earlier this year created a foundation to help international students come to Paris to study film.

Satrapi is best-known for her monochrome autobiographical graphic novel and film “Persepolis,” a coming-of-age tale set against the Islamic Revolution in her native Iran.


Why Are Hezbollah’s Casualties Being Ignored by the Media?
Throughout the Israel-Hamas war, the media consistently relied on the Hamas-run Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza to provide casualty figures, frequently taking its claims at face value without examining their reliability. This was especially problematic because the MoH deliberately refused to distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The reason was clear: By collapsing civilians and terrorists into a single casualty count, Hamas could maximize international sympathy while advancing the narrative that Israel was deliberately targeting innocent civilians.

A similar pattern is now emerging in Lebanon.

Since March 2, 2026, after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel and joined the Iranian regime’s attack on the Jewish state, the IDF has conducted extensive operations aimed at removing the terrorist threat along Israel’s northern border and beyond.

Yet when casualty figures appear in major international media outlets, the numbers are typically reported as a single undifferentiated total. As in Gaza, Hezbollah operatives are rarely separated from civilians.

The IDF recently revealed that it has targeted 2,500 Hezbollah operatives since the war resumed in March. This is in addition to the 7,000–8,000 Hezbollah terrorists reportedly killed since October 8, 2023. According to the IDF, these losses amount to roughly one-third of Hezbollah’s pre-war fighting force.

Meanwhile, as of June 1, 2026, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported approximately 3,300 total fatalities.

Based on these figures, approximately 76% of all reported fatalities were Hezbollah terrorists, producing a civilian-to-combatant ratio of roughly 1:3.

That is a remarkably low ratio by the standards of modern warfare. It is even more notable given Hezbollah’s well-documented practice of embedding fighters, weapons, and military infrastructure within civilian areas.


How Drop Site News Sanitizes Hamas and Hezbollah for Western Audiences
“Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem vows ‘third liberation’ of Lebanon, rejects disarmament as Israeli project.”

“Hezbollah says it carried out 41 military operations on June 1 as fighting intensified across southern Lebanon and northern Israel.”

“Israel, which has been getting hammered by daily Hezbollah FPV drone strikes on military sites and command centers, is lashing out by escalating attacks on Lebanese civilian areas.”

While these might sound like dispatches from Hezbollah itself, they are actually excerpts from posts by Drop Site News, a popular “independent” media outlet that has increasingly adopted pro-Hezbollah rhetoric on social media for its nearly half a million followers since the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed terror organization reignited on March 2, 2026.

Over the past several weeks alone, Drop Site News has repeatedly amplified Hezbollah’s messaging, celebrated its military operations, or framed the terror group’s campaign against Israel in sympathetic terms, even as the conflict continues to endanger both Lebanese and Israeli civilians.

Examples include:
Publishing an extensive summary of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem’s Resistance and Liberation Day speech attacking both Israel and the Lebanese state.
Sharing a translation of Hezbollah’s daily report detailing attacks on Israeli forces and northern Israeli communities.
Claiming that Israel is being “hammered” by Hezbollah and is responding by taking out its frustrations on Lebanese civilians.
Promoting a Hezbollah propaganda video directed at Israeli soldiers and their families.
Sharing footage of a Hezbollah drone strike alongside approving commentary from Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV, which Drop Site refers to as “The Station of the Resistance.”
Sensationalizing Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks on civilian communities in northern Israel.
Publishing an interview with an analyst who narrates Hezbollah drone footage as though providing color commentary for a sporting event.





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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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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