Thursday, July 09, 2026

07/08 Links Pt1: US strikes 90 Iranian military targets, hours after Trump says ceasefire a ‘waste of time’; Rahm Emanuel’s anti-Israel bash won’t win over the jew-hating Dems

-From Ian:

JPost Editorial: Trump must not abandon his promise to people of Iran as collapse of Tehran deal looms
Trump is right that dealing with this regime is a waste of time. He is also right that a regime that shoots protesters in the street cannot be trusted to reform itself through polite diplomacy.

The conclusion, though, cannot be to abandon the Iranian people until the next round of negotiations collapses or the next oil shock alarms global markets.

The conclusion must be that regime change in Iran is not the only strategic and moral horizon that fits the reality before us. Such change cannot be imposed by outsiders; it must be Iranian-led.

It must respect Iran’s people, history, culture, and future but must be supported by the free world with sanctions on killers, technology to break censorship, documentation for accountability, diplomatic isolation of regime officials, and refusal to reward Tehran for surviving crises of its own making.

A free Iran would not solve every problem in the Middle East, but it could transform the region in ways no memorandum with the Islamic Republic ever will.

It could weaken Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and militias sustained by Tehran’s money and ideology. It could allow one of the region’s great civilizations to rebuild.

This is not something that can be done by one power alone; it requires collaboration, and must remain the clear goal of every actor involved.

In January, the Iranian people were told help was coming; six months later, they deserve more than silence, bargaining, and regret.
JO Investigation: Massive Gaza Archive Targeting Israelis is Being Run by "American" in Saudi Arabia
Key Findings:
An anonymous operator claiming to be American but based in Saudi Arabia runs one of the largest Gaza “war crimes” archives—82,000+ videos and images—whose authenticity and chain of custody remain unverified.
The operator feeds purported evidence to the Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation, which has been linked to the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
Despite claiming American identity, the operator calls Americans “complicit in genocide,” urges U.S. soldiers to disobey orders, and demands U.S. officials stand trial at The Hague.
The operation runs from Saudi Arabia—a kingdom that has received extensive U.S. and Israeli security assistance, including protection during the 2026 Iran conflict.
The archive’s sophisticated infrastructure—dual websites, 2.4 terabytes of torrents, encrypted submissions, Icelandic privacy protection—suggests resources beyond typical grassroots activism.
The operator’s language shifted from singular “I” to plural “we,” raising questions about who is actually running the operation and whether it represents a coordinated network.
Seth Mandel: Karim Khan and the Perils of Anti-Israel Obsession
Khan’s case against Israel was a sham—he canceled important fact-finding trips in order to file the warrants before he could be outed as an office pest. The ICC report establishes “the accuser’s credibility,” which puts all past testimony and reporting in an even more damning light. The internal investigation also found Khan’s belated denials to be “devoid of credibility.”

From the Times, which obtained the internal report:
“First, she said, there was overfamiliarity during a work trip to London, then incidents in his office in which ‘he would grab and paw at her breasts, try to access her pelvic area, and suck on her ear or neck,’ according to a summary of the U.N. investigation’s findings obtained by The Times.

“Eventually, she said, the advances progressed to unwanted sexual activity. She told investigators that ‘the power dynamic between them meant that she could not say no.’”

Now, why would someone with access to this report want to ensure that such details saw the light of day before the ICC made its final decision on Khan’s job?

Most likely, the answer is: because there is reason to worry that court members’ anti-Israel fervor is such that they may still try to protect him. But now the public knows what the ICC believes Khan did, and it would destroy the court to leave him as chief prosecutor.

It is yet another example of the dangers of the world’s obsession with Israel. the UN’s refugee agency has been coopted by Hamas. The Committee to Protect Journalists is facing an internal revolt over the possibility that the organization might stop referring to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists as “journalists.” The International Committee of the Red Cross’s callous disregard of Israeli hostages and its participation in Hamas’s own public mistreatment of those hostages has disgraced its work.

Unfortunately, I could go on. But the point should be clear. Allowing anti-Zionist radicals to hijack human-rights groups has left genuine humanitarianism and genuine justice hobbled. This is the destruction left in the wake of an industry that destroyed itself because it was solely focused on destroying Israel.


Report finds UNESCO repeatedly identified Hamas, Islamic Jihad operatives as journalists
A new report by UN Watch found that the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization repeatedly identified Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives as journalists after they were killed in Gaza, even after evidence of their terrorist affiliations became public.

According to the report, released on Wednesday, UNESCO “has neither corrected nor withdrawn the statements in question” despite later acknowledgments by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad that several of those identified as journalists were members of their organizations.

Among the cases cited is Mohammed Manhal Abu Armana, whom UNESCO identified as “a journalist for the news agency Palestine Now.” UN Watch said Hamas later released a martyrdom video identifying Abu Armana as a platoon commander and showing him carrying weapons, firing a rocket-propelled grenade and declaring, “By Allah, we will not betray this blood.”

The report also cites Anas al-Sharif, whom UNESCO identified as an Al Jazeera journalist. UN Watch said Israeli authorities had released evidence before UNESCO issued its statement alleging that al-Sharif headed a Hamas cell responsible for facilitating rocket attacks.

“UNESCO action to defend press freedom around the globe has tremendous potential,” UN Watch stated. “This golden opportunity is squandered, however, when the authority of the United Nations is used to make factual assertions that have not been adequately verified.”
UN Watch: Report: UNESCO’s Misidentification of Terrorist Operatives as Journalists in Gaza
In the wake of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023, UNESCO has repeatedly issued public statements identifying individuals killed in Gaza as journalists and condemning their deaths. In a number of these cases, however, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad themselves subsequently acknowledged that the individuals concerned were members or operatives of their organizations.

Despite this evidence, UNESCO has neither corrected nor withdrawn the statements in question. This pattern is fundamentally inconsistent with UNESCO’s mandate and its own published methodology for verifying the deaths of journalists.

UNESCO’s Constitution entrusts the Organization with promoting “the free flow of ideas by word and image.” That mission necessarily depends upon the credibility of UNESCO’s public communications. UNESCO’s own methodology for its Observatory of Killed Journalists provides that reported cases are verified using multiple sources and may be updated when new evidence emerges.

Likewise, both the Standards of Conduct for International Civil Service and the UNESCO Staff Rules and Regulations require UNESCO officials and employees to act with integrity, independence, and impartiality.

Those standards cannot be reconciled with publicly identifying acknowledged members of terrorist organizations as journalists or failing to correct the record once their affiliations become known.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have long embedded members of their military wings within civilian institutions while concealing their operational roles. The use of civilian status to shield military activity violates the principle of distinction under international humanitarian law and places genuine civilians, including journalists, at greater risk. By identifying acknowledged Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives as journalists, UNESCO has implicitly legitimized that violation.


Coordinated Campaign? Media and Advocacy Groups Pressure Israel on Hamas Colonel's Detention
In the first week of July 2026, a wave of articles, advocacy statements, and social media posts flooded digital platforms with a unified demand: Israel must release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the detained director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Military Hospital who holds the rank of colonel in Hamas.

Within roughly 36 hours, major news outlets and advocacy organizations issued analogous statements and petitions with matching talking points.

What distinguishes this from typical news coverage is the timing, uniformity of messaging, and potentially coordinated rollout across advocacy and media ecosystems — all centered on a figure whose Hamas affiliation has been documented by Israeli intelligence, independent researchers, and even Hamas-controlled sources.

Narratives Promoted in Tandem
The campaign’s trigger was a July 2 prison visit by attorney Nasser Odeh, arranged by Physicians for Human Rights Israel. By July 5, the narrative had propagated across continents with remarkable uniformity. Qatar’s state-run Al Jazeera published a story, as did the Washington Post and Associated Press, and The Guardian.

Drop Site News, Qatar-linked Middle East Eye, Sky News, BBC, and CNN all covered the story using near-identical framing — with minimal or no mention of Israeli allegations that he held the rank of colonel in Hamas’s “Military Medical Services.”

The highly similar messaging extended beyond news coverage. MENA Rights Group filed the complaint to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, while Amnesty International launched a petition calling Abu Safiya “a prominent voice of Gaza’s decimated healthcare sector.”

On July 7, UN Special Rapporteurs urged Israel to immediately release Abu Safiya. The UN statement was immediately amplified by media outlets and advocacy groups as independent validation.


NYPost Editorial: Rahm Emanuel’s anti-Israel bash won’t win over the jew-hating Dems he’s trying to appease
Rahm Emanuel wants to run for president as a Democrat in 2028, but bowing to the antisemitic wing of his party is a beyond-despicable way to do it.

In a speech Wednesday — in Israel, no less — the former Chicago mayor and Obama chief of staff slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and read the Jewish state the Riot Act, cravenly selling out the nation his own father fought for in its War of Independence,.

Under Bibi, Emanuel warned, Israel was becoming a “prisoner of its own tools,” a reference to its military prowess.

Unconditional US support, he chided, “has allowed you to deny food and medical relief to innocent Palestinians in Gaza, leaving the world to conclude that Israelis not only want to kill Palestinians, but they are completely indifferent to their death” and “suffering.”

Never mind Israel’s unmatched record of sparing civilians in warfare, even at the expense of the lives of its own soldiers.

Emanuel vowed to end US military aid to Israel, called for sanctions against West Bank settlers and demanded the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state flanking Israel on both sides.

Who’s he kidding? He knows well that, for decades, Palestinians have rejected the two-state solution.

Rahm’s old boss Bill Clinton repeatedly complains of the enormous time and political capital he wasted trying unsuccessfully to get Arabs to agree to it.

And today, Hamas, a murderous cult, is the moral center of the Palestinian polity and promises as many Oct. 7-style massacres as it takes to destroy the Jewish state.

But Emanuel has opted to play to the Dems’ antisemitic wing. It’s naive enough to be disqualifying.

Does he think the people who march against Israel and scream outside Manhattan synagogues will forgive his history of volunteering for the Israel Defense Forces, or his family’s longstanding ties to the Jewish state? Not bloody likely.
Rahm Emanuel, in Tel Aviv, says he is ‘not impressed’ by far-left wing of the Democratic Party
Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, speaking in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, criticized the “moral bankruptcy” of “those that paraded, celebrated and cheered” in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.

Emanuel, who served as White House chief of staff from 2009 to 2010 in the Obama administration, made the comments as part of a broader address on his vision for the future of U.S.-Israel relations as he mulls a potential presidential bid.

Speaking to Jewish Insider prior to his speech at Tel Aviv University, Emanuel responded to a question about Democrats, including Darializa Avila Chevalier, the presumptive winner in New York’s 13th Congressional District, who attended a Times Square rally the day after Hamas launched its attacks on southern Israel. “I have no place for the moral bankruptcy of those that found Oct. 8 as the day to cheer 1,200 people not only killed but sexually abused, and for taking hostage 250 people. They’re morally bankrupt.”

Emanuel further criticized some of the banner stances of the far left, calling open-border policies and efforts to defund the police “wrong on every level.”

“I believe in capitalism, a better capitalism than we have today,” Emanuel said. “I don’t believe in the socialism that you advocate.”

“I have spent my life,” he added, “whether it was helping Nancy Pelosi become speaker by winning the House or helping President [Barack] Obama and President [Bill] Clinton not only get elected but reelected, and the policies they put in place. My whole life is geared toward politically moving red to blue, not blue to midnight blue. I’m not impressed, and for the record, the colors of the DSA are red. I’m into blue: red, white and blue.”

Speaking later Wednesday to a standing-room-only audience at ANU Museum of the Jewish People on Tel Aviv University’s campus, Emanuel laid out what he saw as the generational challenges facing the State of Israel and potential avenues to address them.

In the speech, Emanuel reiterated his concerns about potential Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank and settler violence. He accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — with whom he has long clashed, including on issues related to the West Bank — and the Israeli government of having “led Israel into a dead end for too long.”

Emanuel called for a reassessment of the relationship between the U.S. and Israel. “American policy towards Israel operated under the assumption that the best thing Washington could do for Jerusalem is to blindly, to silently stand behind your government without conditions, without demands, without consequences, even when we disagree,” Emanuel said. “That has been our mistake, and it’s been not a favor to you.


How Hamas snaked its way into Australian hearts in the 1,000 days after its horror attack on Israeli Jews on October 7, 2023
Last Friday marked one thousand days of war in Israel.

A war that started when thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel in the early hours of October 7, 2023, with the intention of murdering as many Jews as they could, sowing terror in the land of Israel.

In what can only be described as scenes of hell on earth, the terrorists from Gaza murdered, raped, or burnt alive 1,200 men, women and children and then kidnapped a further 251.

Entire families were destroyed. Communities devastated.

The land was soaked in the blood of innocents as the stench of death hung heavily in the air.

But it wasn’t just the murders themselves – it was the depraved, barbaric and gleeful manner in which they were carried out.

If ever there was a just war, surely it was the one Israel launched in response to these atrocities.

Because, as horrific as the October 7 attacks were, they were only a preview of what lay ahead if Hamas remained in power, continuing to develop its terror infrastructure, rebuild its strength, and, as its leaders promised, repeat those atrocities "again and again" until Israel’s destruction.

October 7 was ultimately rooted in a twisted and dark philosophy that seeks to strip away the rights of Jews to live in safety and security not just in the only Jewish state – but in all states, in all countries around the world.

This evil philosophy doesn’t just affect Jews, it affects everyone, because it wants to reverse history - and return the world to a time where fanaticism ruled, and freedom was just a nervous whisper in the dark.

And behind it all was Iran, pulling the strings of this orchestra of terror, conducting this war of terror and turning October 7 into a regional conflict.

It ensured that its terror proxies, including Hezbollah and the Houthis joined the war against Israel, launching missiles and rockets against the Jewish state, before directly entering the war itself with missile attacks of its own.
YouTube defends video falsely claiming Bondi Beach massacre survivor is ‘crisis actor’
A Google executive told an inquiry on Tuesday that a YouTube video that falsely claimed a wounded survivor of an antisemitic massacre in Sydney was a crisis actor blooded with makeup had met the platform’s standards and would remain online.

Google Australia manager Rachel Lord was testifying at a government inquiry into the spread of antisemitism in Australia including an attack by two terrorists on a Sydney Hanukkah celebration in December that left 15 dead.

Lord was questioned about a complaint made by survivor Arsen Ostrovsky about a video posted on YouTube. Ostrovsky was attacked online after an image showing blood streaming from a wound in his head was posted on X two hours after he was shot.

Lord said the decision to allow the video to remain on YouTube had been reviewed at “quite senior levels.”

“We have spent a lot of time thinking about where we draw the line and we continue to re-evaluate where we are doing that,” Lord said.

Richard Lancaster, the lawyer leading the inquiry’s evidence, referred to a transcript of the video to avoid showing the images in public.

Four men appear on split screen saying Ostrovsky’s bleeding head appeared “very crisis actor-ish” and mentioned “makeup.” They also describe him as an “intelligence asset” who had a “degree in theater.”


Rabbi of synagogue targeted in alleged attack says Jewish community will not live in fear following horrifying ordeal
The rabbi of the synagogue that two men allegedly pointed a fake pistol at has declared the Jewish community will not live in fear following the horrifying ordeal.

Two French nationals were charged after an imitation pistol was pointed at a synagogue and its security guards in Sydney’s Double Bay on Saturday.

Rabbi Yanky told Sky News host Chris Kenny that he had just finished taking his community through prayer time when the incident occurred.

When leaving the synagogue to go home, Rabbi Yanky noticed police outside and asked what happened, before being told: "It's okay, everything is under control".

As the community was observing Shabbat, a time in which Jewish people refrain from using their phones, it was not until hours later that he read his text messages and was briefed by the police on what happened.

"Later, when we heard what happened, we were very concerned. But we make a point of not being intimidated," Rabbi Yanky said.

"That's what they want. They want to intimidate us. It's so important for us not to fear, not to be intimidated."

The Jewish community is still reeling from the Bondi Beach massacre, which killed 15 people.

One of those injured in the massacre was inside the synagogue on Saturday night during the incident.

Sydney's synagogues have had to hire guards for protection and place cement bollards to prevent attacks, to protect against terrorist attacks.

Rabbi Yanky said he has always considered Australia the "best country in the world", and it has been difficult to face the fact that such incidents are occurring here.
US strikes 90 Iranian military targets, hours after Trump says ceasefire a ‘waste of time’
The American military attacked about 90 military targets in Iran, including “air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline,” U.S. Central Command said shortly before midnight on Wednesday night.

“The latest strikes follow successful execution of offensive strikes in Iran the night before,” CENTCOM said. The strikes “further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping and innocent civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz,” it added.

Hours before the strikes began, U.S. President Donald Trump said that negotiating with Iran regime leaders was “just a waste of time” and called the Iranians “liars,” “scum” and “sick people.”

“If they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it,” Trump said earlier in the day. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”

U.S. Central Command said that Trump ordered the additional strikes to “further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”

“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway,” CENTCOM said.

Trump shared video footage on Wednesday of loud booms, explosions and fire coming out of a building, including apparently at Iran’s Chabahar Port, and stated that “this is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran.”

“If it happens again, it will get much worse,” he said.


US launches 2nd night of strikes against Iran, as Israel said bracing for war to restart
The United States launched fresh strikes on Iran late Wednesday and into early Thursday morning after striking Iranian targets a day earlier in retaliation for attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which the Islamic Republic responded to by attacking sites in Kuwait and Bahrain.

The Israeli defense establishment was reportedly keeping a close eye on the rising tensions, amid concerns the fighting could quickly escalate and draw Israel back in.

Israeli television also reported the US was returning its refueling planes to the region, after they were removed during the ceasefire that began in early April. Some of the planes, whose presence is a potential signal of the war restarting, were previously parked at Ben Gurion Airport.

According to Channel 12 news, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz were holding a security consultation on Wednesday evening, a day after the US and Iran resumed attacks.

Tehran fired on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the US to hit Iranian targets overnight Tuesday-Wednesday and Iran to retaliate against US targets in the Gulf. Iranian state media reported that eight members of the Iranian navy and air force were killed in US attacks on southern parts of the country, in Bandar Abbas and Bushehr.

On Wednesday, following those strikes, lead mediator Pakistan urged restraint. But both the US and Iran used bellicose rhetoric, with Iran threatening to close the strait and US President Donald Trump first declaring that the memorandum of understanding between the countries was “over,” then sending mixed signals over whether, or how much, fighting would continue.

“I don’t think it’s going to start again. I think it’s going to go very quickly. They hit a couple of ships, and so we hit them much harder,” Trump said Wednesday during a press conference at the conclusion of a NATO summit in Ankara.

“Anything that happens is going to be over very quickly, and we’ll only make it safer — including for oil,” Trump stressed, adding that the US has managed to get significant amounts of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz since the MoU was reached last month.

“We’re not looking for long-term,” Trump said. He then said, paradoxically, “I’m not sure I want to make a deal. Let’s just finish the job.”


Ghalibaf: 'If you strike, you'll get hit,' IRGC claims responsibility for Kuwait, Bahrain strikes
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for strikes on the Gulf States on Thursday morning, claiming to target two US military bases in Bahrain and another two in Kuwait.

Sirens sounded for the second time in Bahrain on Thursday, the Bahraini Interior Ministry announced. The Bahrain News Agency, Bahrain's state media, attributed the sirens to Iranian missiles.

Sirens also sounded in Kuwait, where the Defense Ministry reported that the country's air defenses "are confronting rocket and drone attacks."

At the same time, Reuters reported that an elevated security warning was sent to mobile phones in Qatar. An all clear was sent out within 10 minutes, noting that "a threat had been eliminated."

IRGC claims responsibility for the strikes
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf claimed the strikes on the Gulf states were in response to American attacks on southern Iran earlier on Thursday.

"America still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free. Let me put it plainly: if you strike, you’ll get hit," he said in a post on X.

"Don’t flail around pointlessly, or you’ll sink even deeper: the Strait of Hormuz will only open with 'Iranian arrangements,' not American threats," Ghalibaf added.


Trump to Congress: Syria to be removed from list of states that sponsor terrorism
U.S. President Donald Trump told Congress on Wednesday that his administration intends to remove Syria from the list of states sponsors of terrorism.

According to a statement from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the president notified Congress that the president will rescind the designation following a 45-day pre-notification period.

“Lifting sanctions on Syria will unlock international trade and investment, give Syria a chance to rebuild and open up a new chapter for the Syrian people,” Rubio stated. “A stable, unified Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors benefits not only the region, but the entire world.”

Rubio lauded the “positive changes and counterterrorism actions taken by the Syrian government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa,” saying the Syrian president provided “formal assurances” that his country will not support international terror.

“This historic step opens new possibilities for economic opportunity and recovery, giving the Syrian people a chance at greatness,” Rubio said.
Despite restricting Israeli defense firms, Macron flew to Syria on jet equipped with Elbit system
French President Emmanuel Macron landed in Syria on Monday evening, making him the first Western leader to visit the nation since last year’s rise to power of Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former member of al-Qaeda.

Macron flew into Damascus for the historic visit on an Air Force jet equipped with Elbit Systems’ Directed Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) designed to defend aircraft against infrared-guided missile threats, particularly those launched from man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS).

The fully automatic and autonomous DIRCM system employs an advanced electro-optic turret and laser technology to disrupt or jam the missile's tracking ability by optically breaking its lock on the target. This interference aims to prevent the missile from maintaining its course toward the aircraft – thereby protecting everyone on board.

Haim Stern, a director of Business Development and Marketing at Elbit Systems, was quoted in a company blog as saying that the DIRCM systems provide “a fundamental level of protection” against surface-to-air missiles which is “important for virtually all aircraft, regardless of their mission or region.”

In its mission to provide defense to aircraft, the company supplies security systems to Israeli commercial aircraft as well as for the IDF.

Outside Israel, Elbit has also supplied its technology to many other nations. In total, its systems have been active on planes and helicopters for over a combined 500,000 hours. Several NATO nations such as Germany and Italy, and others such as Brazil, use it extensively in their respective air forces.
Netanyahu: Iran ‘definitely’ possesses chemical weapons, would not hesitate to kill Americans
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Iran “definitely” possesses chemical weapons and would “not care a whit about murdering hundreds of thousands of Americans if they could.”

Netanyahu told Newsmax in an interview that the Islamic Republic had shown it was willing to murder its own citizens, and warned Tehran would have “no compunction” about using weapons of mass destruction.

The U.S. State Department has previously said Tehran is in non-compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, citing, among other things, its alleged development of pharmaceutical-based agents for offensive purposes and failures to fully disclose past chemical weapons-related activities.

Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Forces and U.S. military embarked on “Operation Roaring Lion/Epic Fury” in late February with the goal of “destroying the nuclear threat, or pushing it away, and also destroying a good chunk of their capacity to make ballistic missiles.”

“If you give that regime the ability to have ballistic missiles that could reach ultimately the United States and they could arm it with nuclear weapons, then every single American would be in danger,” the premier explained. “That’s why President Trump decided to do this. He does what he thinks is good for the United States, and in this case, I would say it was essential for the security of the United States.”

“Iran was on the verge of making nuclear weapons. We pushed that immediate threat away,” declared Netanyahu, adding: “We pushed it back, but it’s not over. The jury’s still out—I’m the first to say that.”
Trump claims Israel will withdraw from Lebanon
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he believes Israel will withdraw its troops from Lebanon.

Speaking to reporters alongside Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at a press conference in Ankara, Trump said that he discussed an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I talked to Bibi about that. I think they’re going to. I think they want to. I don’t think it’s a question,” the U.S. president said. “We have a deal with Israel and Lebanon, and yeah, they’ll leave.”

The Israeli military occupies a security zone in parts of Southern Lebanon as a buffer against Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel and to dismantle the terrorist group’s infrastructure.

Netanyahu said in June that the Israel Defense Forces would remain in Lebanon “as long as we need to protect our people.”

The framework agreement that Israel signed with the Lebanese government does not require it to withdraw from the country.
IDF arrests Hezbollah Radwan Force terrorist in Southern Lebanon
Israel Defense Forces soldiers arrested an operative of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force during operations in Southern Lebanon, the military announced on Wednesday night.

The Radwan Force is Hezbollah’s commando unit that specializes in cross-border infiltration operations and for years trained to invade northern Israel and seize communities under a plan known as “Conquer the Galilee.”

The military said that “following IDF soldiers’ activity yesterday (Tuesday) in the area of Bint Jbeil, the IDF can now confirm that, during the encounter, the soldiers apprehended an additional Hezbollah terrorist.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the IDF said it had killed a Hezbollah terrorist during the same incident in the Bint Jbeil area.

The incident took place in the same area where an IDF reservist was seriously wounded during an encounter with a Hezbollah operative on July 2.

“The IDF will continue to operate to remove any threat to its soldiers and will not allow the Hezbollah terrorist organization to harm Israeli civilians,” said the army.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah renewed its rocket and drone attacks from Southern Lebanon on Israel on March 2, following the targeted killing in Tehran of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of “Operation Roaring Lion” on Feb. 28.
Board of Peace preparing ‘humanitarian pilot areas’ in southern Gaza
U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is preparing pilot “humanitarian zones” in southern Gaza to shelter vetted Palestinian civilians outside Hamas control, a source familiar with the details told JNS on Wednesday.

The pilot zones would be administered by the U.S.-backed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) and secured by multinational troops from the International Stabilization Force (ISF), said the source, who is familiar with the planning.

The source said that after months of planning, requests for proposals had been issued for preparatory work, including an ISF base and a NCAG police camp.

Under the second phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan, Hamas terrorists are to cede power, Gaza is to be deradicalized and disarmed, and the ISF is to provide security in parts of the Strip currently held by the Israeli military before reconstruction begins.

However, top Hamas leaders, including Khaled Mashaal and Musa Abu Marzouk, have rejected key parts of Trump’s plan for the next stage in recent months, including disarmament, despite having agreed to the proposal in October 2025.

Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for the Gaza Strip, has repeatedly stressed that disarmament of Hamas and all other Palestinian terrorist groups is a precondition for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip under Trump’s plan.

The source familiar with the planning told JNS on Wednesday that the humanitarian pilot “should not be understood as reconstruction, or as a substitute for demilitarization.”

“The purpose is to create secure, humanitarian zones where civilians can access shelter and basic services outside Hamas control, while the broader process around governance, security and decommissioning continues,” the source stressed.
Reports: Member of Egyptian aid committee in Gaza killed in strike
Gaza media outlets affiliated with Hamas report that Mohammed al-Wahidi, the public relations director of the Egyptian Committee for Aid to Gaza, an Egyptian organization that assists Gazans, was killed in a strike targeting a vehicle in Gaza City.

According to some reports, two other people were killed along with him.

The IDF has yet to comment on the purported strike.


IDF kills Hamas terrorist who infiltrated Kibbutz Nirim on Oct. 7
Israeli forces killed a Hamas Nukhba cell commander in a strike in southern Gaza on Tuesday, the military said, identifying him as Mohammed Emad Alrahman Abu Taima, a participant in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack who infiltrated Kibbutz Nirim.

The Israel Defense Forces said Abu Taima led a Nukhba unit responsible for ambushes against Israeli troops during the war and in recent months was involved in maintaining operational readiness and recruiting terrorists for Hamas.

He was targeted in a “precise airstrike” after posing an immediate threat to troops operating in the area, according to the IDF.

IDF eliminates two Hamas commanders in Gaza strikes
The IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) said on Tuesday they had eliminated a Hamas Nukhba Force commander and a commander in the terror group’s intelligence unit.

Ahmad Yahya Ibrahim Batsh, a cell commander for the Nukhba Force that led Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, was killed in a strike in northern Gaza on Sunday, the military said.

According to the IDF, Batsh advanced terror attacks against Israeli soldiers throughout the War of Redemption, including in recent days.

In a separate strike on Monday in southern Gaza, the military said it killed Hamouda Abu Daqa, whom it identified as a commander in Hamas’s intelligence unit.


Boundless Insights: Escalation with Iran – with Dan Shapiro
Just when it seemed the conflict between the United States and Iran might be settling into an uneasy stalemate, the region lurched back toward escalation.

In this episode, host Aviva Klompas is joined by Ambassador Dan Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel and a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council, to make sense of a fast-moving and often contradictory situation.

They discuss the latest military exchanges between the United States and Iran, the uncertain future of the MOU, the status of Iran's nuclear program, and whether diplomacy is gaining ground—or simply delaying another round of conflict.
Ask Haviv Anything: 129: Iran is closer to freedom than you think, with Armin Navabi
Is the Iranian regime finally on the path toward collapse? In this episode, Iran-born political analyst Armin Navabi (from the YouTube channel Liberty Politics) takes us inside the mind of the Iranian people and the fractured Islamic Republic. We break down the four warring factions within the regime, the controversial strategy behind the Trump MOU (and why it might be doing more harm to the regime than the war itself), and why the Iranian resistance rallied behind Reza Pahlavi. Plus, why arming the Iranian people might achieve what air strikes could not.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Armin Navabi and Iranian Context
01:44 Current State of Iranians and Internet Access
06:32 The Iranian People's Sentiments and Recent Protests
11:47 Support for Pahlavi and Skepticism in the West
16:03 Pahlavi's Representation and the Iranian Revolution
23:40 The Pahlavi Legacy and Iranian Aspirations
27:18 Understanding the Coup and Historical Narratives
30:39 Internal Divisions and the Islamic Republic's Weaknesses
37:19 The Power Dynamics Within the Regime
46:33 Negotiations and the Future of the Islamic Republic
51:11 The Weakness of the Islamic Republic
53:10 Public Sentiment on the MOU
53:22 The Role of the Iranian Opposition
58:08 Strategies for Arming the Iranian People
01:08:32 The Future of Iranian Protests and Uprisings


EylON the Record: Turkey Is Becoming the West's Most Dangerous Ally | Eitan Fischberger
For years, many in the West dismissed Turkey's threats as political theater. But what if they're making the same mistake they made before October 7?

In this episode of EylON the Record, Eylon Levy speaks with Eitan Fischberger, OSINT investigator and author of The Fisch Files, about Turkey's increasingly hostile posture toward Israel, its growing influence inside NATO, and the sophisticated information operations shaping Western public opinion. They examine whether Ankara is exploiting its position inside the Western alliance while advancing an agenda fundamentally at odds with it—and why policymakers may be underestimating the strategic consequences.

In this episode, we discuss:
How Turkish state-linked influence networks quietly shape Western discourse online.
Why Erdogan's rhetoric toward Israel has become increasingly eliminationist—and why it deserves to be taken seriously.
Whether Turkey is acting as a Trojan horse inside NATO while deepening ties to Hamas, Russia, and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Why weakening Israel ultimately weakens the broader Western alliance.

The debate over Turkey is no longer just about one country's foreign policy. It is about whether democratic alliances can recognize ideological threats before they become strategic ones. If Western governments ignore hostile rhetoric because it comes from an ally rather than an adversary, they risk repeating dangerous mistakes.

🎯 Key moment:
"Turkey plays this inside-outside game where they like to pretend that they're friends of the West and friends of NATO... but in reality, that just sort of masks their actual agenda, which is something else entirely, and I would argue anti-Western and anti-American in particular."

00:00 Turkey's Hidden Agenda Inside NATO
00:24 Should We Believe Erdogan's Threats?
04:53 Meeting Erdogan—and Exposing His Network
07:07 The Turkish Propaganda Machine
11:09 How Clash Report Influences the West
15:12 Why NATO Keeps Trusting Turkey
18:10 Erdogan's Muslim Brotherhood Agenda
23:30 Trump's Turkey Dilemma
26:48 Is Turkey More Dangerous Than Iran?
30:53 Why the West Can't Ignore This Threat
32:04 Outro







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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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