Friday, June 12, 2026

06/11 Links Pt1: Trump says agreement with Iran approved by all parties; What Does America Get for $3.8 Billion in Israel? And the Way Ahead; 300 Nova festival massacre survivors remain in a ‘very bad condition’

From Ian:

John Spencer: What Does America Get for $3.8 Billion in Israel? And the Way Ahead
The value of the relationship becomes even clearer when compared with other recipients of American military assistance. Egypt contributes to regional stability and maintains peace with Israel. Jordan remains an important security partner and counterterrorism ally. Both relationships advance legitimate American interests. Neither generates the same intelligence cooperation, defense technology innovation, industrial integration, or battlefield lessons that flow from the U.S.-Israel partnership. The United States does not gain access to hundreds of defense technology startups through Egypt. It does not field combat-proven active protection systems developed through Jordan. It does not receive the same volume of battlefield lessons on missile defense, drones, tunnels, artificial intelligence, and urban warfare from either country. Israel's value derives not only from its location but from the capabilities it continually produces.

There is also a political dimension to the alliance. The United States and Israel are democracies. Neither is perfect. Both experience fierce political disagreements, contentious elections, and intense public debate. Both operate under the rule of law and maintain independent institutions. Shared values alone do not determine foreign policy, but alliances tend to endure when interests and political traditions reinforce one another. That reality has helped sustain the relationship across administrations of both parties.

Reasonable people can debate aid levels. They can debate specific policies pursued by either government. They can argue about how the relationship should evolve over time. Those are legitimate discussions. What is far more difficult to sustain is the argument that America receives little in return. The United States gains access to intelligence that helps prevent attacks against Americans and American interests. It gains military technologies refined through combat experience. It gains battlefield lessons that would otherwise cost billions to acquire independently. It gains access to one of the most dynamic defense innovation ecosystems on the planet. It gains a capable ally operating in a strategically important region against many of the same adversaries confronting the United States.

The future of the relationship may itself demonstrate the success of the investment. In recent interviews, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested that Israel should gradually reduce its reliance on American military financing as its economy and defense industry continue to expand. He has spoken about eventually transitioning from traditional assistance toward deeper cooperation in areas such as cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, missile defense, directed energy, and other emerging technologies.

Whether that transition occurs in the next Memorandum of Understanding or further in the future remains uncertain. Israel continues to face significant security threats and remains engaged in multiple conflicts. The broader point is that the relationship has evolved. American assistance helped support Israel during periods when its economy was smaller, its defense industry less developed, and its security challenges no less severe. Today Israel possesses one of the world's most advanced defense sectors, a thriving technology economy, and military capabilities that generate value not only for its own security but for the United States as well.

If future agreements place less emphasis on direct financing and greater emphasis on joint research, co-development, and technological collaboration, that would not signal a weakening partnership. It would reflect a mature partnership built on decades of successful investment. American assistance helped Israel build capabilities that now generate value for both countries. If Israel eventually requires less direct assistance while contributing more technology, innovation, intelligence, and operational expertise, that would not represent the failure of the partnership. It would represent one measure of its success.

So the next time someone asks what the United States gets for $3.8 billion in Israel, the answer is straightforward:
Jobs: American jobs and manufacturing supported through purchases of U.S.-made military equipment.
Industry: A stronger U.S. defense industrial base through joint production, co-development, and missile defense cooperation.
Intelligence: Intelligence that helps prevent attacks against Americans, American forces, and American interests.
Technology: Military technologies refined in combat, from active protection systems and missile defense to counter-drone capabilities and artificial intelligence.
Laboratory: Access to one of the world's most active laboratories for modern warfare, generating operational data, experimentation, innovation, and combat experience that would be difficult, expensive, and in some cases impossible to reproduce independently.
Lessons: Battlefield lessons in urban warfare, tunnel warfare, missile defense, drones, and modern combat without having to learn them first through American casualties, American mistakes, or American wars.
Innovation: A defense innovation ecosystem producing technologies and ideas that benefit both countries.
Ally: A capable ally helping deter common adversaries and maintain stability in one of the world's most strategically important regions and, if necessary, willing and able to fight alongside the United States.
Strategy: Greater freedom for the United States to focus military and economic resources on long-term competition with China in the Indo-Pacific while helping preserve a favorable balance of power in the Middle East.

That is what America gets in return.
Iran’s fanatical regime would rather embrace death than peace
Trump’s belief that he could pull off a ground-breaking agreement, one that guarantees freedom of passage through the Strait of Hormuz and neutralises Iran’s nuclear programme, led in recent weeks to tensions with Israel, with the American president highly critical of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and his military strikes against Iran and Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon.

The real threat, though, to Trump’s hopes of achieving a breakthrough never came from Israeli aggression, or the maintenance of Washington’s naval blockade in the Gulf. It has come from the hardline clique that controls Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an organisation whose sole raison d’être is to defend and propagate the uncompromising ideology that underpins the pillars of Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

While Washington may feel comfortable engaging with the smooth-talking sophisticates of Iran’s foreign policy establishment, the real challenge is to engage directly with the hard men of the IRGC, whose authority derives directly from the country’s divinely appointed Supreme Leader.

The IRGC – which the Starmer Government still has not proscribed as a terrorist entity – is the Islamic Republic’s Praetorian Guard, and is meant to take orders directly from the Supreme Leader.

Apart from his divinely appointed status, the Supreme Leader’s authority over all the instruments of the Iranian state originates from an obscure Islamic concept, the velayat-e faqih (roughly translated as the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist), which gives the ruling Shia clergy absolute control over the Iranian people and their destiny.
Losing Hizbullah Is a Major Source of Stress for Iran
Dr. Menahem Merhavy, an expert on Iran at the Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the latest Iranian missile attack on Israel "appears to be an attempt to save face....Iran has been unsuccessful in leveraging what it believes was victory over the U.S. and Israel."

"Iran is on the verge of catastrophe, and losing Hizbullah is a major source of stress for it. The 'ring of fire' [surrounding Israel] is currently stuttering, but Iran won't give up the idea and will not abandon Hizbullah." Yet, "Iran's latest attack, and its quick signal that it finished retaliating, signals its unwillingness to enter another prolonged conflict because they cannot afford it."

"Hizbullah can be pounded all over Lebanon, but Beirut and Iran can do absolutely nothing about it. Israel has been able to act freely in Lebanon for months....There is a lot of frustration with both Hizbullah and Iran among the Shiite community in Lebanon. Iran has yet to provide funds to rebuild homes that were destroyed by the Israeli military in the past two years. Hizbullah terrorists are also unable to move freely in Lebanon for constant fear of being targeted by Israel."

Amatzia Baram, professor emeritus at the University of Haifa and an expert in Middle Eastern politics, said, "Hizbullah has been weakened to about half of its previous abilities, but still, they have significant ability to fight. Hizbullah is busy rebuilding itself," and Iran "is still helping Hizbullah - financially, militarily, and strategically - by positioning itself as its defender and savior."

"Israel didn't attack Hizbullah between 2006 to 2023 for one reason - it was afraid that the massive missile and rocket arsenal would cause major damage to Israel. Now, Israel isn't afraid of attacking Hizbullah because of its potential to cause damage, but rather Israel is concerned that Iran will get involved and the U.S. will not support Israel if it chooses to respond."

"Attacks against Hizbullah targets in southern Lebanon are small, tactical, and have little significance to Hizbullah's standing in Lebanon. Attacks against command headquarters, weapons depots, and assembly factories in Beirut and north of Beirut are at an almost strategic level that can weaken Hizbullah, and that needs to be Israel's target for the future." Hizbullah, once the centerpiece of Tehran's regional deterrence strategy, is increasingly busy preserving its own survival.
Is Shi'ite Support for Hizbullah Weakening?
On May 31, a Hizbullah-affiliated group called on supporters to gather in downtown Beirut to protest the Lebanese government's support for diplomacy with Israel. Only a few dozen people showed up, a striking contrast to past years when Hizbullah could mobilize tens of thousands with ease. Days later, residents of Bayssarieh clashed with Hizbullah members who were reportedly moving military equipment into the southern Lebanese town. Meanwhile, activists in Nabatieh and Tyre are increasingly voicing demands for stronger state authority in the southern towns, long dominated by Hizbullah, reflecting growing unease among the Shia over conditions in southern Lebanon. However, any effort to loosen Hizbullah's grip on the Shia community will depend on a broader realization among its constituents that supporting Hizbullah is a losing strategy.

Lebanese political writer Mona Fayad said that while more Shia appear willing to criticize Hizbullah, this should not be mistaken for a structured opposition capable of competing for power, which would need to overcome the social and psychological legacy of Hizbullah's decades-long dominance. "We are talking about forty years of conditioning and entrenchment," she said.

"The biggest indicator that Hizbullah lost the narrative of resistance is the military defeat happening in the south," Fayad said. "Hizbullah's supporters are today displaced, and many of them are living in the streets because of Hizbullah. Today, many are in shock or denial."


300 Nova festival massacre survivors remain in a ‘very bad condition’
Ofir Amir, co-founder of the Nova music festival, miraculously survived the 7 October massacre. While recovering from surgery on his bullet-pierced legs, he and the other Nova producers found themselves delving into the world of therapy, attempting to create an immediate communal support system for survivors. This marked the beginning of the Tribe of Nova Foundation, which now supports around 3,500 survivors and hundreds of bereaved families.

“In general, you can see that people want to get back to life — to study, evolve and grow,” Amir tells Jewish News at the Nova festival exhibition in London. “But, of course, there are also other cases. Around 300 people are in a very bad condition. When you mix trauma and substance abuse at such a young age, it is a bad combination. Right now, we have 150 survivors in rehabilitation centres specialising in trauma and substance abuse, both in Israel and around the world,” he explains.

The foundation runs more than 50 programmes tailored to the different profiles and needs of survivors. Amir describes the fragility of those dealing with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “You think you are having a good week — the sun is shining and life goes on — but then there is one reminder of what we have lost and what has happened to us. Usually, the bad things happen at night or at weekends, when they are alone. Our social workers work 24/7,” Amir says.

“Unfortunately, six months ago, a good friend of mine, Roi Shalev, committed suicide,” Amir adds sombrely. Shalev’s suicide, exactly two years after the massacre, shook not only the Nova community but the entire country, as his story resonated around the world. On 7 October, Shalev was shot and witnessed the murder of his girlfriend and his best friend. His mother later took her own life following the traumatic events. Shalev was an active member of the Tribe of Nova Foundation and participated in international delegations accompanying the Nova festival exhibition. He gave media interviews and appeared smiling in photographs, becoming a powerful symbol of resilience.

Amir describes the survivors’ continuing battle: “Unfortunately, we hear only about the bad things that happen in the media. You never hear about the other 50 people who were standing on a roof, ready to jump, whose lives were saved by the foundation and its social workers.”
Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s handwritten October 7 invasion notes goes on display
United Nations special rapporteurs were “bullied” into not signing a letter documenting allegations arising from the October 7 attacks, the global body’s special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment has claimed.

Dr Alice Edwards said some colleagues sought to water down a January 2024 letter detailing allegations received by her office, with a “concerted effort” to prevent aspects of the massacre being formally recorded by the UN.

In a conversation at UCL in London on Tuesday with barrister Adam Wagner KC, Edwards said only one other rapporteur ultimately signed the letter.

“That letter is a set of allegations of what happened on October 7; it was only signed by the Special Rapporteur on summary extrajudicial killings and me,” she said.

“Some other special rapporteurs and working groups had wanted to sign on, but they also had been bullied by others not to sign on, and there was this concerted effort for this letter not to put on record some allegations that had been received.”

Edwards, whose term ends in July, said the final version was significantly weaker than her original draft.

“There was a campaign to prevent that letter from going out. There were weeks of being bullied and deterred from writing it and telling me that everything in it was false,” she went on.

“All the comments of these individuals had been taken into account so the letter shrank considerably.”

The letter was eventually sent to the Permanent Mission of the State of Palestine in Geneva and "transmitted" to Hamas.

Edwards, an Australian lawyer, scholar and negotiator, was appointed to the unpaid role investigating torture allegations worldwide in 2022.
I documented the horrors of October 7 but colleagues watered it down, claims UN torture rapporteur
Yahya Sinwar’s handwritten October 7 invasion plan will be among the terrorist paraphernalia to feature in a new exhibition.

Other items featured in the newly opened exhibition at the Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Centre (IICC) in Ramat HaSharon, near Herzliya, include the Hamas chief’s shoes, vest and other clothes.

The IICC is unique among Israeli educational centres because it is run by former top officials from IDF intelligence, Shin Bet and the Mossad, and as such has special access to those agencies.

The centre’s officials told The Jerusalem Post this week that the IDF was analysing over one million Hamas documents and data items intercepted since October 7.

IICC CEO and Brigadier General (res) Yuval Halamish also said the centre itself had been analysing waves of documents that it receives from IDF intelligence, analyses which will likely go on for years.

Many reports on Hamas documents have already been released. One such report produced evidence to show how the terror group restored its training of new recruits in northern Gaza between January and March 2025, during a temporary ceasefire.

That report included details of the training, names of trainees; how they scored on the shooting range; who passed the various combat courses and who failed; and “religious brainwashing processes”, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The IICC exhibit features the physical instructions that terrorists carried on October 7, which maps out each village in southern Israel they were designated to attack and notes on the most challenging security spots at each site.

The exhibition is also said to include a book of fatwas and sharia rulings – including from the late Qatari Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi – justifying the murder of unarmed Israeli women and children. According to the fatwas, all Israelis are valid targets both in the present and in the future due to mandatory conscription in the country.


Toronto officer killed in raid tied to Iran-linked US consulate and synagogue shooting probe
A Toronto Police Service officer was shot and killed Thursday morning while executing a search warrant in relation to a US consulate shooting that has been tied to an Iranian proxy group.

Police Constable Marc Pinizzotto was shot during the operation, and despite the efforts of medical services, the Emergency Task Force officer died at Sunnybrook hospital.

Nicholas Bennett, 19, is set to be charged with first degree murder in connection to the 18-year TPS veteran's death. Bennett was shot by police and has been hospitalized, but an outstanding suspect, 19-year-old Zara Jabbi, was still on the run. Police Chief Myron Demkiw said in a press briefing that Jabbi should be considered armed in dangerous, but wouldn't detail if Jabbi was the person who fatally shot 43-year-old Pinizzotto.

Jabbi is wanted in connection to the March 10 US consulate shooting, but the investigation pertained to several shootings. The warrant in which Pinizzotto fell in the line of duty was one of several warrants executed that morning.

The Toronto Sun reported that the other shootings being investigated as part of the raids were against Greater Toronto Area Synagogues. TPS would not confirm to The Jerusalem Post that synagogue shootings were tied to the warrants.
Bondi Beach attacker charged with 19 more offenses
The surviving terrorist from December’s Bondi Beach massacre in Australia has been charged with additional 19 offenses, Australian media reported on Wednesday.

Naveed Akram, the son of the second perpetrator, who was shot dead by police during the attack, was facing 59 charges.

The initial charges included 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder, and one count of committing a terrorist act, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The new charges filed by the prosecutor at the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney include 10 counts of “shoot at with intent to murder,” six counts of discharging a firearm with intent to resist arrest, and three counts of causing wounding or grievous bodily harm with intent to murder, the report continued.

On Dec. 14, 2025, Naveed and Sajid Akram opened fire at an annual Chanukah candle-lighting event at Bondi Beach. Fifteen innocent people were killed and 40 others were wounded.

Akram, of Indian origin, survived the attack after being treated at a hospital.
Man charged after allegedly sending offensive emails to Royal Commission on Antisemitism witness
Investigators have charged a man who allegedly sent multiple offensive emails to a witness to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism.

The 59-year-old northern New South Wales man has also been charged with weapons offences after an address was searched.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers had received a report about the alleged offensive emails last month, an AFP statement said.

The AFP’s National Security Investigations (NSI) teams allegedly linked the emails to the man.

Authorities executed a search warrant in the town of Woodburn on Thursday, with officers allegedly seizing electronic devices and two prohibited weapons.

“Right-wing literature and pamphlets, and instructions on making explosives have also been seized for further examination,” the statement read.

The man had since been charged with four counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence and a count of intimidating a witness.
The Bondi Rabbi’s legacy lives on six months after Bondi attack
Rabbi Mendy Ulman reflects on the Bondi Beach attack that took the life of his brother-in-law, Rabbi Eli Schlanger.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been six months already,” Mr Ulman told Sky News Digital Presenter Gabriella Power.

“The memories are still very much etched in our minds; we live with it every second in our community, in my family.”


Israel Will Not Allow Iran a Veto over Operations Against Hizbullah in Lebanon
Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, director of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and former head of the research division in IDF Military Intelligence, said the renewed fighting between Iran and Israel reflected dissatisfaction on both sides. Iran is under pressure from the U.S. blockade, sanctions, economic hardship, and the weakening of its proxies. Israel, meanwhile, remains unwilling to accept a reality in which Hizbullah can rebuild or operate from southern Lebanon while Iran attempts to deter Israeli action there.

"Mostly the Iranians are worried because the situation is putting a lot of pressure on them. Their proxies are suffering heavily. We want the threat from Hizbullah to be much lower and better dealt with....We made it clear that we are not going to let Hizbullah deploy in the south. If they operate from the south, there's going to be a price for that. The Iranians were trying to prevent us from doing that by their threat."

For Kuperwasser, the central issue is whether Iran will be allowed a direct veto over Israeli operations in Lebanon. "The most important thing is, of course, that our ability to take action in Lebanon is not limited and compromised. We should not accept Iran becoming a player in Lebanon."

Kuperwasser rejected the idea that Israel had formally declared regime change as the goal. "We never said that the goal of this war is to change the regime. We said that we would like to create the conditions that would enable the Iranian people to change the regime."
Interview with Elliott Abrams: The Iranian Regime Really Means Those Slogans: Death to America and Death to Israel
I share what I would call the Israeli and Emirati view that actually it would be helpful to do another round, another week of attacks on Iran to soften up their position.

The argument that now there is a more radical regime in Tehran seems to me unpersuasive. Recall that in January, the old regime under the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed 30,000 unarmed citizens in the streets of their major cities in cold blood. So that's a pretty radical regime. They were bloodthirsty extremists.

I don't think the president has definitively stopped Iran from trying to build a nuclear arsenal, from trying to rebuild its missile program. They're going to keep on trying to do that. The nature of the regime is that it is aggressive, that it really means those slogans: death to America and death to Israel. They care about the great cause, which is essentially a religious one and has Israel very much in its sights. Bad things can be pushed off a year or five years, but there is no solution except the end of the regime.

If the U.S. and Israel are willing to act to prevent a quick rebuilding of Iran's nuclear and missile programs, and if the Iranians are not rewarded with the lifting of the U.S. sanctions and an unfreezing of tens of billions of dollars, then they will come out of this war with a less legitimate government, a much tougher economic situation, and a much weaker military establishment. And those are real achievements.
A Long-Term Strategy to Deal with Iran
No diplomatic agreement is going to end the war between Washington and Tehran. Revolutionary Iran's fundamental purpose is defined by combating American influence, both real and perceived, at home and abroad. The war will truly end only once the Islamic Republic disappears.

Seeking to avoid this fate, Iran's leaders are refusing any meaningful or binding concessions. After surviving the worst their mortal enemies could throw at them - and gaining a new feel for deterrence and leverage in the process - the country's new leaders act even more emboldened and defiant than their predecessors.

Once again, Tehran is angling for major sanctions relief in exchange for cosmetic concessions that do not prejudice its capacity to make nuclear fuel on its home soil. Even if the Trump administration gets everything it claims Iran has agreed to, the regime will emerge with the presumptive ability to covertly produce every component of a bomb.

Tehran currently believes that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is ultimately its decision and so is any future decision to reclose it. If it remains unchallenged, Tehran's control over Hormuz gravely undermines the decades-old U.S.-led regional security order premised on freedom of navigation upheld by American naval supremacy.

The U.S. clearly needs an effective and sustainable plan to reopen Hormuz without Tehran's sufferance, defend against aggression from a more militarized and risk-tolerant Iranian regime, and foster the conditions to collapse an Islamic Republic whose claims of recent victory do not negate its profound, enduring, and irreparable internal weaknesses.
Europe Is Becoming Iran's Playground for Terrorism
The U.S. Justice Department alleges that Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, 32, a Kata'ib Hizbullah commander, is responsible for several plots and attacks in Europe and North America claimed by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI), a front operating on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He was detained in Turkey. Al-Saadi allegedly attempted to coordinate attacks on a prominent New York City synagogue and Jewish community centers in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona.

HAYI began operating in March, days after U.S.-Israeli actions against the Iranian regime escalated. It has claimed at least 18 attacks in Europe, targeting synagogues, Jewish schools, ambulances and community sites. The group and its supporters flooded pro-Iranian channels with footage of their attacks, amplifying the terror in real time. Many of these assaults, often done by Muslim immigrants, are straightforwardly antisemitic, meant to intimidate Jews.
Trump calls off Iran strikes, says deal approved but Islamic Republic denies agreement reached
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has called off strikes against Iran after reaching a deal with the regime.

“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as president of the United States of America, canceled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” the president stated. “Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved.”

Trump said that the other parties were “Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and others.”

The U.S. naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz “will remain in full force and effect until this transaction is finalized,” Trump stated. “Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly.”

During a press conference in the Oval Office later in the day, Trump said that “we have a deal that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, which was the whole purpose of what we had to go through to get this.”

“We have a signing soon, and the documents are in pretty final shape, so we’ll see,” he said. “It should be done and it should be done pretty quickly.”

“They want it every bit as much as everybody else wants it,” the president said. “I think a lot of good relationships can ensue from this.”

Iran reportedly denied approving an agreement with the United States.

“I hope we have in fact reached a diplomatic solution to end the Iranian conflict that will meet President Trump’s red lines and be fundamentally different from the JCPOA,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), referring to the past Iran nuclear deal.

“As in the past, any agreement reached with Iran related to their nuclear program will be presented to Congress for review and approval,” the senator stated. “I look forward to that process.”


Electronic Warfare Opened the Skies of Iran
Lt.-Col. M., head of the Electronic Warfare Branch at the Israel Defense Ministry's Directorate of Defense Research and Development, told Ynet, "In the operations in Iran, we operated in arenas saturated with threats and some of the world's most advanced air defense systems."

"The role of our [electronic warfare] systems was to 'open the skies' - to create complete freedom of action for the Air Force over Iran, and to make sure the aircrews returned home safely."

Israel's electronic warfare systems, which combine advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence, reduced the pilot's cognitive load, neutralized enemy radars, and allowed fourth-generation aircraft to operate with fifth-generation capabilities.

"The Iranians will come to the next round stronger and with a knife between their teeth. They understood very well what happened to them in the skies, but we are already working on the next surprise."
IDF Is Forcing Hizbullah Backward in Lebanon
A senior Israel Air Force officer said the big advantage the IDF has in southern Lebanon today is that much of the area has been cleared of civilians.

"Collateral damage and harm to noninvolved people almost does not exist today in southern Lebanon....The moment you issue evacuation notices, people leave."

"We saw that in the Dahiyeh district [of Beirut] as well." Once the evacuation is complete, intelligence gathering can proceed quickly and troops can close in rapidly.

The IDF insists that Hizbullah's morale is actually very low. The officer said, "the enemy is moving backward."

The IDF "almost never encounters terrorists face to face. They leave before you arrive, because they understand that the military power is such that they cannot deal with it, and that is what is creating a crisis of trust inside Hizbullah."

He said the number of terrorists killed ranges from 30 to 70 a day.


IDF officer seriously wounded by Jenin IED blast
Two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded, including an officer who was seriously hurt, during a counter-terrorism raid in Jenin, northern Samaria, the military said on Thursday.

An explosive device detonated during the operation, seriously wounding the officer and lightly injuring a noncommissioned officer, the IDF said.

Both men were evacuated to a hospital and their families were notified, according to the statement.

Israeli ground forces have operated in Jenin with the goal of preserving the ability to swiftly act against Iranian-backed terrorist groups in the city, known among Palestinians as the “Martyrs’ Capital” due to the many suicide bombers who have come from the area.

Palestinian terrorists targeted Israeli Jews in Judea and Samaria at least 5,051 times in 2025, according to figures published by the Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) NGO.

The data does not include the hundreds of violent attacks on Israeli security personnel occurring during ongoing counter-terrorism operations in Arab towns under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Twenty-four Israelis were murdered in Judea and Samaria in 2025, and more than 400 others were wounded, according to the group’s annual report.


NYPost Editorial: The world ignores Gaza’s suffering when it’s at Hamas’ hands
Unable, at least for now, to slake its bloodthirst by killing Israelis, Hamas is solidifying its brutal control over the hostages it still holds — the people of Gaza.

The fundamentalist monsters are reestablishing their reign of terror across the Gaza Strip, setting up a police state with prisons and detention centers in the same schools and hospitals they used to store munitions, manage communications and fire missiles.

It was all to be expected: In the first week of the ceasefire with Israel, Hamas dragged local enemies into the streets, labeled them “collaborators,” and shot or hanged them publicly to let everyone know who’s in charge.

Hamas can’t invade or bomb Israel right now, so it’s using the ceasefire to show the Palestinian people that it’s just as ruthless as ever.

And none of the Westerners who spent the war screaming “genocide” say a word, because that would mean admitting to the world that Hamas was always the combatant with total disregard for Palestinian life.

Hamas leadership knew perfectly well that perpetrating the heinous Oct. 7, 2023 attack would provoke Israel into a massive response.

Hamas knew this would result in civilian casualties.

That’s why the terrorists wove their military infrastructure into the daily life of civilian Gaza.

Even most tyrants want to protect their people, but Hamas views Palestinian lives as precious only when their sacrifice serves its propaganda purposes.
Militants and police executed and maimed dozens of Palestinians in Gaza, UN report says
Hamas militants and police units in Gaza beat, maimed, and publicly executed dozens of Palestinians during its war with Israel in acts amounting to war crimes, according to a report released Tuesday by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The report documented hundreds of cases of extrajudicial punishment which were often publicized during and afterward to instill fear in the populace.

"These cases involved executions, kneecapping, bone-breaking with metal pipes or cement bricks and beatings, and were framed by the perpetrators as punishments for alleged collaboration with Israel, looting humanitarian aid, theft, drug-related offenses or affiliations with internal rivals."


Commentary Podcast: Drive My Kharg
Our friend Matt Continetti is back to discuss the central theory of Trump's second term, as well as the resumption of strikes on Iran and the threat to take Kharg Island. Is this a negotiating tactic, or have the Iranians finally pushed Trump too far? Plus, the expiration of FISA, the launch of the World Cup, the historic Knicks game, the inflation numbers, and Matt recommends the documentary Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs That's the Weight of the World).


‘Iran is NOT a Muslim country’ | Goldie Ghamari on the Islamic dictatorship holding Iran hostage
Goldie Ghamari – former member of provincial parliament of Ontario, lawyer and advocate for Iranian freedom – talks to spiked’s Fraser Myers about the US-Israeli war in Iran, why Iran is a cautionary tale for the West’s ‘Islamo-left’, and why there’s no such thing as a ‘moderate’ ayatollah.

00:00 Introduction
00:23 How Iranians feel about the war and ceasefire negotiations
02:34 Are there really moderates within the Islamic Republic?
04:06 The protest movement: biding their time or petered out?
06:17 Why Reza Pahlavi? Addressing concerns about monarchy
10:33 Do Westerners understand what life under the regime is like?
12:58 Left-wing apologism for the Islamic Republic
15:17 Why the Iranian diaspora supports Israel
18:06 Can Iranian civilisation recover after the regime falls?
19:03 What the West most gets wrong about Iran




CNN Went ‘Inside Hezbollah’ But Ended Up Platforming Its Narrative
When CNN correspondent Isobel Yeung traveled to Lebanon to explore how Hezbollah is “still standing” after months of Israeli military pressure, she had an opportunity to examine one of the Middle East’s most deadly terrorist organizations at a pivotal moment.

Instead, her report, Inside Hezbollah, largely allowed Hezbollah-aligned voices to shape the narrative while leaving many of the group’s actions, responsibilities, and claims insufficiently challenged.

Throughout the 15-minute film, Yeung meets weapons smugglers, Hezbollah supporters, family members of Hezbollah operatives, and a man presented as a Hezbollah “fighter.” Yet rather than using these encounters to scrutinize Hezbollah’s role in destabilizing Lebanon, violating international resolutions, and rebuilding its military capabilities, the report frequently gives interview subjects space to advance the organization’s narrative with limited pushback. Exclusive Access Comes With a Price

After months of “persuading” an arms dealer to meet with her and the CNN crew, Yeung is taken to a house in an undisclosed location in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, where she interviews a masked weapons smuggler.

Despite the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, Hezbollah continues to exploit instability along the Syrian-Lebanese border, using Syria as a logistical corridor through which it receives weapons and military supplies.

Israel has repeatedly targeted these smuggling routes in an effort to prevent weapons from reaching Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Syria’s new government has also taken steps to curb cross-border weapons trafficking, signaling its willingness to reduce threats along Israel’s northern frontier.

Nevertheless, weapons smuggling remains a persistent problem, allowing Hezbollah to replenish its arsenal even after suffering significant battlefield losses.

Yet CNN’s report devotes little attention to the broader consequences of these smuggling operations. There is no meaningful discussion of how Hezbollah’s independent military infrastructure undermines Lebanese sovereignty, weakens the Lebanese Armed Forces, or contributes to Lebanon’s ongoing instability.

Instead, Yeung asks the smuggler whether the weapons are needed to “defend [the buyers] against Israel,” framing the issue through the lens of Hezbollah’s own justification for maintaining an armed force outside state control.

Missing from the discussion is the central reality that Hezbollah’s military presence in southern Lebanon and its repeated attacks on Israel are themselves a primary driver of the conflict.

Nor does Yeung challenge the smuggler on the role he plays in sustaining a terrorist organization’s military capabilities. Unsurprisingly, he is allowed to dismiss concerns about how the weapons are ultimately used without facing meaningful scrutiny.

The result is a portrayal that humanizes the smuggling network while largely overlooking its contribution to Hezbollah’s rearmament efforts.





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