Thursday, June 25, 2026

06/24 Links Pt1: Another evidence-free UN genocide charge against Israel – and another media feeding frenzy: Andrew Fox: A good offence is the best defence; Israel's alliance with America is vital, but Jerusalem can't outsource its security

From Ian:

Jonathan Sacerdoti: No, Israel isn’t ‘deliberately targeting’ children in Gaza
Once again, a United Nations body has accused Israel of the gravest crimes imaginable: this time, the deliberate murder of children. And once again, when you actually open the report, the evidence simply isn’t there.

The UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry has published a 94-page paper claiming Israel “deliberately targeted” Palestinian children during the war in the Gaza Strip – language implying war crimes and crimes against humanity. These are among the most serious charges in international law. So you would expect, at minimum, one clearly documented case: a soldier who identified a child as a child, and killed that child for no reason other than that they were a child. After 94 pages, the Commission cannot produce one.

What it produces instead, according to a detailed rebuttal by the watchdog UN Watch, is a chain of assumptions dressed up as findings.

Take the report’s own marquee example, set out in its paragraphs 59-60: a ten-day-old baby allegedly shot through the head by an Israeli “quadcopter” while breastfeeding inside a tent in the Nuseirat camp in April 2024. The Commission’s reasoning, in its own words, is that because it happened in daylight, the drone operator “would have been able to see inside the tent” – and from that single inference it concludes the baby was deliberately targeted. For this to be true, a drone would have had to hover at ground level, see through canvas, pick out a 35-centimetre infant’s head, and fire a precision shot, all based on a photo of a bullet, with no chain of custody, no ballistics analysis, and no witness who even claims to have seen a drone. The same pattern recurs case after case: a family account, a doctor’s guess about which weapon caused a wound, and a conclusion of premeditated murder. Nothing connecting the dots.

There is one cited incident in the report which might at first seem more plausible, coming from a soldier’s own account, via a December 2024 Haaretz investigation, of the shooting of a Palestinian teenager near a restricted corridor in Gaza.

The Commission cites it as evidence of a culture targeting children. But the soldier’s actual testimony says otherwise: his unit shot the boy under a blanket order that “anyone crossing the line is a terrorist, no exceptions, no civilians” – opening fire before anyone could see who he was. Only afterward, retrieving his phone from the body, did they learn he was unarmed and “just a boy, maybe 16.”

This strategy came about because, tragically, Hamas often uses minors as young as 16 as fighters, and during this war has almost always dressed its fighters in civilian clothes, not uniform, even sending them unarmed to collect weapons hidden earlier on at their destination.

This made it extremely difficult for the Israeli army to differentiate between civilians and combatants, so lines were drawn and warnings not to cross them were issued. In these circumstances, some have argued that that Israel’s rules of engagement were reckless, or some of its soldiers were trigger-happy, resulting in too many innocent people being killed. But even that would not be evidence of a policy to murder children because they are children – the far graver charge the Commission is actually making.
Stephen Pollard: Another evidence-free UN genocide charge against Israel – and another media feeding frenzy
The UN Guidance and Practice for fact-finding missions provides that evidence must be evaluated for its “reliability” and “truthfulness,” that investigations must be conducted with “integrity,” meaning “without any bias,” and that factual findings must be “adequately corroborated” by at least two other “independent and reliable” sources.” This would be a joke were it not to appalling.

The report is entirely one sided, takes its so-called evidence regarding intent, knowledge, and targeting decisions from witnesses whose outlook is prima facie loaded against Israel and whose testimony cannot be verified, and which ignores all facts which paint a different picture from the conclusion the report clearly sets out to reach.

To quote UN Watch again: “These shortcomings would be troubling in any fact-finding exercise. They are particularly concerning here because the Commission’s findings are intended to inform international legal proceedings, including before the ICC and the ICJ. Findings of this nature – particularly those purporting to establish intent and criminal responsibility – would ordinarily require rigorous testing and corroboration before being relied upon in judicial proceedings. Yet international courts have an established practice of relying on UN reports as evidence. This report therefore undermines not only the integrity of international fact-finding, but also the application of international law and confidence in the UN system as a whole.”

I urge you to look at UN Watch’s detailed legal rebuttal – destruction is a more accurate description – of the report, here.

Meanwhile, these are its key points. Most obviously, it exposes how the gravest accusation of all, that Israel deliberately targeted Palestinian children in Gaza, which is an accusation of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, is made without a single verified example. The report simply concludes that because children died in the war – a tragic but unavoidable occurrence in war – this is proof of deliberate targeting.

The report does not consider in any way the role of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as if they were not even present – concluding that the IDF, under orders from Israeli political and military leadership, was engaged in the deliberate killing of children for the sake of killing children. “Across 94 pages, the Report never acknowledges that the IDF was fighting a heavily armed force of tens of thousands of Hamas and PIJ operatives who constructed hundreds of kilometres of tunnels, embedded military infrastructure throughout civilian areas, and routinely operated from homes, schools, hospitals, mosques, and displacement zones. The result is a fictionalised account of the conflict in which there is no armed opposition, no complex urban battlefield, and no armed actors in Gaza other than the IDF. Combined with the erasure of militant activity in the West Bank, this distortion enables the COI to advance the fabricated narrative that Israeli forces were trained, directed, and deployed to deliberately target children as a matter of policy.”

As UN Watch puts it, the report’s extreme length is intended to create the impression of rigorous evidentiary and forensic review, yet it still cannot mask the fundamental absence of reliable proof for its central allegations.

None of this will be reported because it does not fit the now near-universal narrative – that Israel is a uniquely evil rogue state which commits genocide to satisfy its blood lust. But who now cares about the truth?
Andrew Fox: A good offence is the best defence
Supporters of Israel and the Jewish community (and, above all, the Jewish community itself) must be utterly exhausted. Since 7th October, we have seen an unprecedented global onslaught of disinformation. Wave after wave, day after day, blood libel after blood libel, centuries-old and vicious. If we ever wanted to know how the atmosphere that led to the Holocaust was created, we do now. We have all been constantly on the defensive for over two and a half years. Yesterday’s tiresome, evidence-free tissue of nonsense from the UN Human Rights Council is a masterpiece of the antisemitic genre. Every trope under the sun is there. It has been rebutted brilliantly elsewhere. This article is instead concerned with what to do about the gleeful antisemitic machine that has seized on this nonsense and will run with it for months to come.

Supporters of Israel and Jewish communities worldwide have spent too much energy responding to accusations after they have already passed through the institutions that lend them force. A hostile claim enters an NGO paper, moves into a UN report, becomes a headline, appears in a parliamentary speech, and then finds its way into campus motions, sanctions campaigns, divestment drives and street politics. By the time the correction arrives, the allegation has already acquired the authority of repetition. More to the point, nobody outside the pro-Israel ecosystem reads or believes any rebuttal. The lies are too powerful, and the machine pushing them wins the numbers game every time.

The campaign against them requires a different posture. It is time for accountability. We know by now that rebuttal alone cannot match the speed, emotion and reach of libel dressed in institutional language. Accuracy must be paired with consequences. False allegations should be treated as liability events, not merely as arguments to be answered. The task is to make the production, laundering and circulation of defamatory claims costly, documented and procedurally risky.

The most important shift is to examine the entire chain of allegations. A UN report, a media story, or a parliamentary intervention is usually the final expression of a longer process. Someone generated the claim, someone supplied it to investigators, someone gave it legal vocabulary, someone briefed journalists, someone amplified it, and someone used it to demand policy action. Each point in that chain offers a potential route to accountability. The relevant questions are practical: who made the claim, what evidence supported it, who checked it, who ignored corrections, who repeated it after notice, and what concrete harm followed?

We must begin with a litigation-grade dossier. Every contested allegation should be extracted, sourced, classified and tested. False facts, misleading omissions, circular citations, anonymous sourcing, legal exaggeration, and defamatory insinuations must be carefully distinguished. Courts, regulators, donors and professional bodies respond to precision. A strong dossier should identify the claim, the source, the contradiction, the affected person or entity, the republication history, the available jurisdiction and the remedy sought. That is legal intelligence.


Nicole Lampert: This UN report on Israeli ‘genocide’ revives the anti-Semitic blood libel
Children, sadly, are always casualties of war: even in the Blitz, when children were evacuated from major cities, almost a quarter of those killed were children. But that doesn’t mean they are specifically targeted.

The new report seems impressive: it has more than 80 pages chronicling stories of children who have been killed. Enough to tear at the heartstrings of readers and have them rail at the cruelty of those who would kill children.

But – and this is crucial – the report fails to show persuasively that children were deliberately hurt.

It disregards evidence that Hamas operated from civilian areas. The fact that Palestinian terrorist organisations use children – normally young boys from the age of 12 as combatants – is brushed over. That Hamas uses hospitals as headquarters with the tacit support of Western NGOs is not taken into account.

Just as Ireland, one of the countries which is pushing for Israel to be tried for genocide by the ICJ, has attempted to broaden the established legal definition of genocide so that “specific intent” is no longer required, this new report appears to shift agreed definitions. Turning the consensus rules of war on their head, it implies that if civilians, including children, are present when militants are being targeted, this actually means that those civilians were intentionally targeted.

An independent UN inquiry is an important document, but reports are meant to be balanced. The thesis of this one, by contrast, seems to rest on shifting sands.

But what does this report care about the niceties of convention and facts? It doesn’t have to because its message will be amplified regardless. “Shout it out!” is the underlying message. “The Jews kill children. The Jews kill children. The Jews kill children.” And an eager audience agrees.


‘Please look at me,’ former Israeli hostage demands of UN adviser on violence against women
It is a tragedy in its own right that Ilana Gritzewsky, a liberated Israeli hostage whom Hamas abused sexually, had to confront the United Nations expert on violence against women, according to Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.

“It’s absolutely horrible that this should have to be the case,” Neuer told JNS on Wednesday, the day after Gritzewsky appeared before the U.N. Human Rights Council to address Reem Alsalem, special rapporteur on violence against women and girls.

“It’s absolutely absurd and tragic that there are U.N. experts who are supposed to care about the rights of women, especially to combat sexual violence, and she’s one of the world’s major deniers of sexual violence against Israeli women,” Neuer said.

The United Nations considers special rapporteurs to be independent “experts,” whom it is loath to censure even when they make offensive comments. Francesca Albanese, a U.N. adviser on what the global body calls the “occupied Palestinian territories,” has a long history of antisemitic comments. The United Nations has told JNS often that it doesn’t tell its advisers what to say, or not say.

A Jordanian national who has held the unpaid, U.N. advisory role since 2021, Alsalem has denied survivor accounts of Hamas sexual violence on and after Oct. 7 repeatedly. She has said that “no independent investigation found that rape took place on Oct. 7.”

“She’s made some rather horrible statements that have either doubted or denied the violence against Israeli women, and in general against Israel as a whole,” Neuer told JNS.

Since Oct. 7, Alsalem has not met with a single survivor of the Hamas-led attacks, according to Neuer. That could change after Gritzewsky’s testimony, he said.


Danon highlights UN official’s online engagement with antisemitic posts, anti-Israel bias
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, is calling for the removal of a senior U.N. official, accusing her of anti-Israel bias, amplifying antisemitic content and repeatedly promoting unverified claims about the Jewish state.

The dispute stems from a heated confrontation on June 19 between Danon and Vanessa Frazier, the U.N. special representative for children and armed conflict and Malta’s former U.N. ambassador. During a U.N. event marking the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, Frazier repeatedly interrupted Danon as he challenged the findings of a report by Pramila Patten, the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict. Reuters reported that the exchange escalated into a shouting match.

Danon criticized Patten’s recent report, which for the first time placed Israeli security forces on the U.N.’s annual blacklist of parties suspected of conflict-related sexual violence, alongside groups such as Hamas, ISIS and Boko Haram. Israel has strongly rejected the allegations.

Patten had conceded to the media that it is not the job of her office to verify claims in the report, and Danon accused her of acquiescing to demands by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to blacklist Jerusalem.

Frazier broke protocol by shouting at Danon in defense of her co-worker, with the envoy telling her to be quiet or leave.

The clash resurfaced on Wednesday before the U.N. Security Council’s annual debate on children and armed conflict, where Frazier was scheduled to brief member states on the secretary-general’s latest report. The report again included Israel in its annexes for alleged grave violations against children during armed conflict.

“Vanessa Frazier believed she would arrive at the Security Council to present yet another biased report against Israel,” Danon told reporters before the meeting. “But before she even began speaking, her true record came to light.”

Danon highlighted a series of Frazier’s social-media posts as examples of her engaging with antisemitic content online.


ICC oversight body recommends firing prosecutor Karim Khan over misconduct findings
The oversight body of the International Criminal Court has recommended that chief prosecutor Karim Khan be removed from office after finding that he engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior staff member and committed “non-consensual sexual contact,” Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing internal ICC documents.

The recommendation stems from a yearlong U.N.-commissioned investigation into allegations first raised in 2024. According to the June 8 decision reviewed by Reuters, the relationship began in March 2023 and “escalated over time.” The bureau concluded that the power imbalance between Khan and the complainant meant that “a sexual relationship could never be appropriate.”

The decision cited findings that Khan’s conduct escalated into non-consensual sexual contact in his office, at his private residence and during official travel. The bureau recommended the “removal from office of the elected official, prosecutor Karim Khan,” according to the document.

Khan has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the disciplinary proceedings, which were brought after a female lawyer accused him of misconduct in 2024.

The ICC’s 125-member Assembly of States Parties is scheduled to vote on Khan’s removal on July 24 in New York. Khan was suspended earlier this month pending the outcome of the proceedings.

Israeli officials last year urged the court to halt its war-crimes investigation of Israel in light of the misconduct allegations against Khan.


Number of people on ASIO’s high-priority terror list
Australia’s spy chief has revealed fewer than 100 people are on ASIO’s highest-priority terrorist watch list, while thousands more have been investigated by the agency.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News, ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess provided a rare insight into the scale of the nation’s counter-terrorism monitoring operations.

Mr Burgess confirmed ASIO maintains several categories of individuals of security interest, ranging from active priority subjects to historical cases.

“The priority caseload can be anywhere between one and 100-plus. At the moment it's below one hundred,” he said on Thursday.

“The number of investigations would be a larger number. The total number of people that we've looked at or are currently looking at would be in the order of 10,000 plus.”

Pressed on the number of people under investigation, Mr Burgess said he would not confirm the figure but added: “It's not tens of thousands.”
Man recruited by Iran, living in Iraq, directed attack on Melbourne synagogue, security chief says
A former Australian resident living in Iraq directed the attack on Melbourne Adass Israel Synagogue in December 2024, the head of ASIO Mike Burgess reveals.

Burgess says Iran, which was behind the attack, recruited the man through a “complex web of Iraqi-based militia groups.”

“Valuing his high wealth and criminal connections, the IRGC [The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] protected him and supported his illegal enterprises.

“That changed dramatically after ASIO publicly named Iran’s involvement in the arsons.

“This person’s Iranian backers lost their enthusiasm, and after further pressure from Australian and local law enforcement, they threw him in prison.”

Burgess gives the details while delivering his Annual Threat Assessment speech. He also says an Iran-based Australian citizen orchestrated the firebombing of the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Bondi in October 2024, which was the “the first major attack in the summer of antisemitism.”

“This person is a senior agent of the IRGC Quds Force, running its networks around the world.

“We know more about him than he realizes, including the name of his superior in Iran and the department he works for. Department eleven-thousand, a covert unit within the IRGC Qods Force, is responsible for coordinating operations in the West.”
Puppet in arson bid on Jewish deli 'not anti-Semitic'
A lackey ordered to firebomb a Jewish deli was not acting out of anti-Semitic hatred when he carried out the attack, believed to be linked to Iran, a judge has found.

Juon Majok Mali Amuoi, 28, appeared at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday to be jailed for eight months over his role in an attempted arson attack at the Lewis' Continental Kitchen in Bondi on October 15, 2024.

The 28-year-old and his accomplice Wayne Dean Ogden were accused of taking directions to commit the failed firebombing from alleged mastermind Sayed Mohammed Moowasi, who is a member of Nomads Outlaw Motorcycle Group.

Amuoi took a sledgehammer to the arson bid before attending a meeting about completing the job the following day.

He eventually pleaded guilty to being armed with the intention of committing an indictable offence.

Though Judge Jillian Kiely acknowledged the ant-Semitic crime was designed to attack the Jewish owners, she found Amuoi did not share those same motivations.

"There is no evidence he was acting with any anti-Semitic views in mind or that he was aware this was the intention," she told the court.

The deli was eventually firebombed on October 20 in a hit that caused extensive damage, but Amuoi is not alleged to have been involved.


JPost Editorial: Israel's alliance with America is vital, but Jerusalem can't outsource its security
Diplomacy can buy time. It can reduce pressure. It can create openings. It cannot replace Israeli power.

Israel should pursue diplomacy where it serves national interests. Peace with Egypt and Jordan changed Israel’s strategic environment. The Abraham Accords opened new regional possibilities. Close coordination with Washington has served both countries.

The question is how Israel enters that coordination.

Israel is strongest when it comes to Washington as a capable partner with independent options. It is weaker when it appears unable to act without American approval, resupply, or political cover.

Israel should be honest about its current dependence. Its air force relies heavily on American platforms. Its missile-defense systems benefit from American funding and cooperation. Its wartime munitions and supply chains remain tied to US decisions. That dependence has real consequences.

Reducing it should become a national priority.

Israel needs greater domestic production of munitions, stronger stockpiles, deeper air-defense capacity, wider cyber and intelligence capabilities, and a defense industry able to sustain long wars. It also needs economic resilience and diplomatic reach, because military independence cannot exist without national resilience.

This is an argument for seriousness inside Israel.

Every Israeli government should ask what happens when Washington is distracted, hesitant, divided, or pursuing a deal that Jerusalem sees as dangerous. Every defense budget should be tested against that question. Every procurement decision should consider whether it increases Israeli freedom of action or narrows it.

The US will remain Israel’s most important ally. That relationship must continue to flourish. Israel should work with Washington, consult with Washington, and strengthen every channel of cooperation.

But the lesson, from Ben-Gurion to Begin, remains clear: Allies are essential, and responsibility for Israel’s security belongs to Israel alone.

That principle should guide doctrine, budgets, procurement, diplomacy, and national debate. It is the price of sovereignty.
Two more Muslim countries ‘will join Abraham Accords’
One of the United Arab Emirates’ most influential writers and strategists, Amjad Taha, has predicted that two more countries — Malaysia and Indonesia — will join the Abraham Accords by the end of 2026.

Taha, speaking at a private lunch in central London held by the Elnet think tank, told Jewish News that talks with the two countries were at “an advanced stage” and that he also believed a number of “small African countries” would follow suit.

The event, moderated by the former Bicom chief executive Dermot Kehoe, featured two other UAE-based political strategists, Ahmed Sharif Al-Ameri and Mozah Alkindi. Elnet described Taha as “one of the most visible and energetic advocates for Arab-Israeli normalis-ation in the international media. He led the first independent youth delegation from the Gulf to visit Israel, and was a founding member of the Sharaka Institute, an NGO dedicated to building people-to-people connections between Israel and the Arab world.

“In the immediate aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, he became one of the most prominent Arab voices defending Israel’s right to self-defence on the international stage, appearing on CNN, Sky News, Fox News, GB News, and Newsweek.”

Taha, who has more than two million followers on social media, brought a simple, central message to the journalists and activists present: Britain must ban the Muslim Brotherhood. He and his colleagues made the same case to MPs in parliament on Wednesday morning, warning of almost inevitable future terror attacks in Britain, not all of which would be directed only at the Jewish community.

In wide-ranging remarks, Taha spoke of the steadfastness of countries already signed up to the Abraham Accords, declaring that what he labelled the Hamas “genocide” of October 7 2023 had been specifically designed to undermine and destroy the agreement. “But the Accords did not collapse”, he said, and the UAE in particular had maintained its support for its own growing Jewish community and for burgeoning trade with Israel. There were now more than 300 plus Israeli companies trading in Dubai and he was confident that there would be more.

His country had taken “a moral stance” after October 7, he said, adding that “there is no cause that could ever justify the kidnapping and killing of an eight-month old baby”, referring to the murders of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, together with their mother.
Netanyahu touts war gains, rebukes critics of Gaza and Iran campaigns
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday defended a series of key wartime decisions, arguing that military operations in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran had produced major strategic gains despite opposition from critics who warned against taking such actions.

Speaking at the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel’s annual MUNI EXPO 2026 conference at Expo Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said Israel would maintain its security zone in Southern Lebanon and continue preventing Hezbollah from threatening communities in the north.

“It’s true, Hezbollah is still in Lebanon, but there is something else there now,” Netanyahu said. “Today, there is a security zone there that prevents Hezbollah and its remnants from invading the Galilee, because that was the plan.”

The prime minister said Israeli forces are continuing to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure in Southern Lebanon and reiterated his commitment to keep the security zone in place.

“As long as I am prime minister, we will maintain the security zone in Southern Lebanon,” he said. “For as long as it takes, we will maintain the security of the north.”

Netanyahu also highlighted Israel’s efforts to counter explosive drones, calling the threat a global challenge.

“We will be the first in the world to solve the explosive drone problem, which is a global issue, and we are solving it,” he said.

Turning to his broader wartime strategy, Netanyahu said many of the same voices that opposed operations in Rafah, Lebanon, Syria and Iran are now criticizing Israel for not going far enough.

“Today, they come and tell us, ‘You didn’t achieve 100%, only 80% to 90%,’” he said. “There is still work to do. It is not over, that is true, but the result is monumental.”

Netanyahu said critics had urged him not to enter Rafah, confront Hezbollah or launch “Operation Rising Lion” against Iran, warnings he chose to ignore.
US forces kill senior ISIS in Syria airstrike
A senior Islamic State of Iraq and Syria leader was killed by U.S. forces in an airstrike in northwest Syria on June 19, U.S. Central Command announced on Wednesday.

Ali Husayn al-Ulaywi was killed in what CENTCOM described as a “precision strike,” part of ongoing efforts to “disrupt and eliminate terrorists seeking to attack Americans abroad or the U.S. homeland.”

“CENTCOM and our partners remain committed to rooting out remaining remnants of ISIS to ensure its enduring defeat,” CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper, stated. “We will continue to defend the U.S. homeland, our service members and allies and partners across the region.”

The announcement was praised by U.S. lawmakers, who highlighted continued American and Syrian efforts to combat terrorism in the region.

“Good, one less terrorist threatening American lives,” Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.) stated.


Trump claims he stopped ‘great leader’ Erdogan from bringing Turkey into war on Iran’s side
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who he suggested could have entered the war on the side of Iran because he doesn’t like Israel.

“He was a prime candidate to go into the war with Iran — maybe on the Iran side, because he’s not a big fan of Israel,” Trump claimed, even though Turkey gave no indication that it was preparing to enter the US-Israel war against Iran and even came under Iranian fire at one point.

“I asked him to stay out. He stayed out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“Erdogan is a great leader, a very strong person… Everything I’ve ever asked from him, he’s done.”

The remarks from Trump came as Erdogan and other senior Turkish officials have recently ramped up threats against the Jewish state, with Turkey’s interior minister calling earlier this month for the country to “liberate” Jerusalem.

Erdogan, who has long been a vociferous critic of Israel, stated days later that Israeli “aggression” posed a threat to the whole world and must be stopped, as he claimed Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Syria were a threat to Turkey.

While Israel’s relations with Turkey, which were once the Jewish state’s strongest with any country in the region, have drastically deteriorated following Erdogan’s rise to power, they have been particularly strained since the start of the Gaza war sparked by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack.

Trump was also asked Wednesday whether he was preparing a major “gift bag” of weapons sales for Turkey ahead of an upcoming NATO summit there, including F-35 stealth fighters and dozens of jet engines.
IDF kills Hezbollah terrorists operating near security zone
Israeli troops and aircraft struck two armed Hezbollah terrorists near the Ali al-Taher Ridge in Southern Lebanon on Wednesday after identifying them as an immediate threat, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The terrorists were operating near the security zone when they were targeted, according to the military.

“The IDF will not allow the Hezbollah terrorist organization to harm Israeli civilians or IDF soldiers, and will continue to operate to remove immediate threats,” the IDF said.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that Israeli forces will remain deployed in Southern Lebanon despite potential U.S. pressure.

Speaking at a conference of the Federation of Local Authorities, Katz said, “Even if there is an American demand, the IDF will not withdraw from Southern Lebanon.”

“We will not leave the security zones in Syria and Lebanon. This is our security doctrine. The IDF must be on the enemy’s side of the border and protect the communities from within the territory itself. Soldiers inside, residents outside. We are not withdrawing,” he added.


IDF strikes rocket launch sites across Gaza Strip
The Israel Defense Forces overnight on Tuesday struck four rocket launch sites across the Gaza Strip, saying they had been established under the cover of the ceasefire with Hamas.

The launch pads were ready “to fire rockets against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers, and therefore posed an immediate threat,” according to the military.

The positions were said to have been established by terrorist organizations “in recent weeks,” months after the U.S.-brokered truce went into effect.

Prior to the airstrikes, steps were taken to prevent harm to noncombatants, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance, the IDF said.

Israeli forces remain deployed in Gaza in accordance with the Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire deal brokered by the United States and will continue to eliminate immediate threats, it stressed.


H.R. McMaster on what needs to change for a U.S. and Iran deal to work out
H.R. McMaster, a CBS News contributor and former national security adviser to President Trump, joins CBS News to weigh in on the U.S.-Iran talks in Switzerland, which Vice President JD Vance said "laid a very good foundation" for a deal.


The Brink: The Terrifying Truth About What’s Happening In Iran | Kasra Aarabi
In this episode of The Brink, Andrew and Jake are joined by Iran expert Kasra Aarabi to examine the state of the Iranian regime after the recent conflict with Israel and the United States, and to ask whether the Islamic Republic is weaker than it appears.

Drawing on sources inside Iran and years of research into the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Kasra explains the internal power struggles unfolding within the regime, the growing influence of younger and more radical elements of the IRGC, and why the battle for succession after Ayatollah Khamenei could reshape the future of the Islamic Republic.

The conversation explores the regime’s ideology, its nuclear ambitions, and the role of the IRGC in projecting Iranian power across the Middle East. We discuss the recent negotiations with the Trump administration, the future of Hezbollah, and why Tehran believes time is on its side despite suffering significant military setbacks.

Kasra also examines the relationship between Iran and regional actors such as Qatar, Pakistan, and Turkey, the wider geopolitical implications of the conflict, and the growing tensions between Washington, Jerusalem, and European capitals.

Finally, we turn to the Iranian people. Kasra explains why many Iranians continue to oppose the regime despite years of repression, why protest movements remain a serious threat to the Islamic Republic, and whether the current moment could mark the beginning of the end for one of the world's most entrenched authoritarian systems.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
03:42 Who Really Controls Iran Now?
08:30 The Islamic Republic Is A Mafia State
12:10 Purges Are Coming To Iran's Regime
14:43 Has The Regime Become More Extreme?
15:30 The Radicalisation Of The IRGC
20:35 The Rise Of Iran's Hardline Next Generation
21:54 Mahdism, Apocalypse & The IRGC Worldview
25:47 What Does Iran Actually Want From A Deal?
30:39 How Tehran Plans To Split Trump And Netanyahu
33:04 Iran's Nuclear Strategy: Delay, Delay, Delay
36:32 Why The Regime Fears Donald Trump
42:11 Does Iran Have Any Real Allies Left?
46:45 What Do Ordinary Iranians Think?
49:50 Why Many Iranians Still Trust Trump?







Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

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)

    

 

 



AddToAny

Printfriendly

EoZTV Podcast

Podcast URL

Subscribe in podnovaSubscribe with FeedlyAdd to netvibes
addtomyyahoo4Subscribe with SubToMe

search eoz

comments

Speaking

Speaking

translate

E-Book

For $18 donation








Sample Text

EoZ's Most Popular Posts in recent years

Search2

Hasbys!

Hasbys!

2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee

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.

Donate!

Donate to fight for Israel!

Monthly subscription:
Payment options


One time donation:

Follow EoZ on Twitter!

Interesting Blogs

Show All

Blog Archive

Copyright © Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News | Powered by Blogger
Blogger Templates