Victor Davis Hanson: The Long View of Iran
One day, the United States seems ready to unleash a Curtis LeMay-style devastating bombing campaign of Iran. The next, it appears trapped in endless haggling with Iranian dissimulators.Amb. Gordon Sondland: America's aid to Israel isn't charity — it's a bargain for US security
Of the roughly 150 days since the first strike, about 90 have passed without major military operations.
Iran believes time is on its side. The Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted, gas prices are too high, and antiwar House Democrats seem poised to win the midterms and bring Trump’s war to a halt.
Trump, by contrast, believes Iran can talk all it wants while sanctions, embargoes, and military pressure steadily weaken the regime.
The war has become so politicized in an election year that several basic realities have gone largely unnoticed by the media.
First, the cycle of bombing, pausing, negotiating, and bombing again may seem endless. But the confusion obscures the continuing effects of the embargoes, sanctions, blockade, and financial isolation imposed on Iran. Together, they are costing the theocracy more than $400 million a day in lost revenue, money that it can ill afford to lose. By haggling, Iran believes it can run out the clock until the midterms, but it may be only prolonging its own miserable situation.
Second, so far the bombing has not descended into a ground war. There are no embedded reporters and few Western journalists in Iran. So the world knows little about the true extent of the damage to the Iranian regime and its military-industrial-nuclear complex.
Nor do we know the mood of the once-restive Iranian street. But whether or not there are future allied military attacks, tensions will only increase as Iran runs out of money and basic goods. Whatever the outcome of negotiations or further combat operations, the Iranian military and economy have already been wrecked and will take years to rebuild.
Third, however the war ends, Iran will remain at a terrible disadvantage for years in dealing with the neighbors it has so gratuitously attacked. The regime currently has no effective combat aircraft or air defenses—and no allies.
In contrast, the Gulf states can field more than 700 combat aircraft, including F-15s, F-16s, F/A-18s, Rafales, Mirages, and Tornados. Israel has another 300, including late-model F-35s, F-16s, and F-15s. U.S. bases in the Middle East are home to some 300 more, including F-22s, F-35s, F-18s, F-16s, and F-15s—not counting carrier-based aircraft.
In sum, the United States and its allies have some 1,300 late-model combat aircraft in the region. They should therefore be able to hit Iran hard for years to come if it resumes drone and missile attacks against its rivals.
Every few years, Americans ask the same question: Why do we send billions of dollars to Israel?Obstacles to Implementing the Hamas Disarmament Agreement
Given a national debt approaching $40 trillion and an annual defense budget of roughly $1 trillion, it is a fair question. Every dollar spent overseas deserves scrutiny. But the debate almost always focuses on one side of the ledger — what America gives Israel — while largely ignoring the other: what America receives in return.
That is the wrong way to evaluate any investment.
Before making my case, let me disclose my own perspective. I am a cultural Jew, but not a practicing one. I don’t keep kosher. I rarely attend synagogue. I raised a family that is half Jewish and half Christian. I have no financial interests in Israel. My support for Israel has never been based on religion or ethnicity. It rests on a far simpler question: Does this alliance make America stronger?
After serving as a U.S. ambassador and spending a lifetime in business, I believe the answer is unequivocally yes.
The United States has many indispensable allies. Britain provides extraordinary intelligence cooperation through the Five Eyes partnership. Japan anchors our strategy in the Indo-Pacific. South Korea deters aggression on the Korean Peninsula. Australia is an increasingly important military partner as China expands its reach. Poland has become one of NATO’s strongest front-line allies. Every one of those relationships advances American interests.
Yet Israel occupies a category almost by itself.
Few allies combine world-class intelligence, battlefield-tested military innovation, cutting-edge cyber capabilities, missile-defense development, entrepreneurial technology and democratic resilience while sitting at the crossroads of the world’s most volatile region. If Israel did not exist, the United States would spend decades — and likely hundreds of billions of dollars — trying to recreate the strategic advantages it provides.
Despite the celebratory announcement of an agreement providing for the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, deep gaps remain between the parties, compounded by flawed assumptions on the part of the mediators. Hamas does not view disarmament as a unilateral obligation. In addition, Hamas demands guarantees that it will be integrated into Gaza's governing mechanisms as a condition for relinquishing its weapons.
Israel insists on the full disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza (which includes removing the weapons and not leaving them in the Strip) as a precondition for withdrawal.
The International Stabilization Force faces significant recruitment difficulties, stemming from the refusal of states to deploy troops to areas where Hamas remains armed. The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza is reluctant to enter the Strip in the absence of an effective security mechanism to protect its members.
Hamas sources revealed that it formulated its hardline positions - foremost among them its refusal to disarm before a full Israeli withdrawal - in close coordination with mediators Turkey and Qatar. The mediators' strategic objective is to preserve Hamas as a legitimate political actor. They strongly oppose conditioning Gaza's reconstruction on Hamas's complete disarmament, while seeking to assume a leading role and secure a major share in reconstruction projects in the Strip.
Hamas's apparent willingness to show greater flexibility can reasonably be attributed to the IDF's sustained military pressure, including targeted killing operations and the expansion of Israel's hold over Gazan territory from 53% to 65%. In practice, however, this does not represent a substantive change, but rather a calculated strategy of delay and "tactical flexibility" whose sole purpose is to ensure Hamas's political and military survival.
Hamas has effectively exploited the diversion of regional attention toward Iran to rebuild its military and civilian systems: it has restored its chain of command, resumed weapons production and tunnel construction, and expanded its ranks to 30,000 armed operatives. These are not the actions of an organization preparing or intending to disarm.
There is serious concern that the mediators are playing a dangerous double game. Their apparent objective is to push the U.S. and the Board of Peace into a confrontation with Israel and to place responsibility on Israel for derailing the Trump plan because of its insistence that its withdrawal take place only after the complete disarmament of Hamas. It is even possible that Turkey and Qatar persuaded Hamas to accept the framework on the assumption that Israel would reject it.
No picture today because blogger sux
Iran is losing its proxies and winning time for the bomb
Iran's regional aggression and nuclear ambitions are components of one strategic system. The proxy network creates pressure and distraction at the periphery. The nuclear program promises survival at the center. An integrated doctrine of deterrence must address both.JPost Editorial: Peace with Lebanon cannot come until Hezbollah is disarmed, diplomatically or otherwise
Washington and its allies should establish that escalation conducted through Iranian proxies will not be treated as separate from the regime that funds, equips, and directs them. Sustained aggression across several fronts must carry consequences not only for the proxies, but also for the Iranian institutions and strategic assets that enable them.
Western governments must replace tactical accounting with strategic measurement. The number of commanders eliminated or weapons depots destroyed matters, but it does not determine the outcome.
The decisive tests are whether Iran’s capacity to regenerate its proxy network has been reduced, whether its ability to coordinate regional escalation has been constrained, and whether its nuclear trajectory has been durably altered.
Intelligence policy must preserve the continuity of the intelligence picture. Its value lies not only in the action it enables today, but in the understanding it preserves for tomorrow. Operational opportunities must be weighed against the danger of exposing sources, methods, and access that may prove indispensable when the stakes are higher.
Time is not neutral.
In conventional war, time may favor the actor with greater resources, resilience, and industrial depth. In a nuclear contest, it may favor the state approaching an irreversible threshold.
The weakening of Iran’s proxies may constitute meaningful progress. Tehran may nevertheless regard their losses as the tolerable cost of dispersing attention, draining adversaries, and shielding the capability that could transform the strategic balance of the Middle East.
A diminished proxy network will mean little if achieving it leaves Iran closer to an irreversible nuclear threshold.
Over the past month, it almost felt as though Israel had turned a page. Headlines once dominated by fallen soldiers gave way to election campaigns, peace negotiations with Lebanon, and discussions of pilot zones designed to secure the northern border.Khaled Abu Toameh: Bribing Hamas Will Not Bring Peace – It Will Finance The Next War
Wednesday was a painful reminder that the page has not yet been turned. Two IDF reservists were killed in a deadly explosion in southern Lebanon – the first Israeli combat deaths on the northern front in more than a month.
During IDF operations in Majdal Zoun, forces from Battalion 2855 entered a booby-trapped building where an explosive device detonated upon their entry, causing part of the structure to collapse and trap soldiers beneath the rubble.
Maj. (res.) Harel Birenstock, 34, and Master Sgt. (res.) Tamir Vaknin, 33, were killed in the incident, the military said on Thursday. Four others were seriously wounded.
The IDF immediately launched an investigation into the incident, while Defense Minister Israel Katz was said to have questioned the commanders’ decision to enter the explosives-laden building rather than destroy it from the outside, in line with his policy of avoiding unnecessary entry into suspected terrorist infrastructure.
The tragedy also highlighted the difficult balancing act Israel now faces.
The IDF’s response to what it called a blatant violation of the ceasefire terms was more controlled and restrained than some expected it to be. Reports from Israel and Lebanon suggested that the military initially sought a broader response to the incident but ultimately opted for a more restrained one, amid ongoing American efforts to keep negotiations with Lebanon on track.
Whether or not every detail of those reports proves accurate, the broader reality that must be reckoned with is that every escalation on the ground now carries immediate diplomatic consequences. Israel-Lebanon talks in Rome focusing on LAF pilot zones
So what happens next, both in Rome and in the Middle East?
The talks in Rome have focused on expanding pilot zones under Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) control, establishing verification mechanisms and creating conditions that could eventually lead to a more stable northern border.
Those mechanisms are intended in part to reduce the need for Israeli troops to repeatedly enter areas in Lebanon from which Hezbollah could launch an attack – a goal that Wednesday’s tragedy underscored remains far from guaranteed. But every Hezbollah attack raises the same question: Can any agreement succeed while the terrorist organization remains armed and capable of carrying out deadly attacks?
The more violence escalates along the border, the more difficult it becomes not only to reach an agreement with Beirut but also to implement one.
Every Israeli casualty deepens public skepticism that Lebanon can fulfill its commitments, while every military escalation increases the risk of undermining the diplomatic process itself.
Instead of insisting that Hamas dismantle its terrorist infrastructure without conditions, international mediators now appear to be discussing a plan to pay terrorists to hand over some of their weapons and enroll them in "rehabilitation" programs.A response to Eyal Weizman’s “All they will find is sand” – Verena Buser and Avraham Russell Shalev
The proposal rests on two assumptions, both of which are dangerously flawed. The first is that Islamist terrorists can be persuaded to abandon jihad (holy war) in exchange for money. The second is that those who surrender weapons will genuinely renounce terrorism.
Haniyeh's response was unequivocal. "Our principle is Palestine from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea," he declared, making clear that Hamas preferred its jihad against Israel over airports, economic development, and billions of dollars in international investment.
The obstacle was never Israel. The obstacle was Hamas. The terrorist group consciously chose war over prosperity. It preferred rockets to an airport and seaport, tunnels instead of factories, assault rifles instead of jobs, and jihad instead of economic development. Hamas rejected all these projects because it refused to abandon its ideological commitment to destroying Israel.
Anyone still claiming that October 7 was caused by economic hardship should listen to Haniyeh's admission. Hamas had a choice. It deliberately chose terrorism.
"Gaza had a genuine chance to become the crown jewel of the Palestinian people, a truly compelling model of prosperity and self‑rule." — Palestinian political analyst Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib.
According to Palestinian sources, Hamas has already begun distributing rifles to its operatives under the guise of "personal ownership." The purpose is evidently to ensure that weapons remain in the hands of Hamas members even if the group formally agrees to disarm.
Any Hamas member who receives thousands of dollars for surrendering one rifle can easily purchase another weapon through the group's extensive smuggling networks. In fact, Hamas may simply hand over obsolete weapons while using international aid money to acquire newer and more sophisticated firearms. The proposal therefore risks becoming an internationally financed rearmament program for Hamas and other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip.
The notion that Islamist terrorists can be "rehabilitated" through financial incentives is equally detached from reality. Jihadists do not become peace activists because they receive a paycheck. Organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, and ISIS are driven by ideology and religious extremism. For them, armed jihad is a divine obligation. No rehabilitation seminar can erase decades of indoctrination.
No terrorist organization should receive financial rewards for surrendering weapons that it should never have possessed in the first place.
The message sent by such proposals is disastrous. It tells terrorists everywhere that if they accumulate enough weapons and inflict enough bloodshed, the world will eventually pay them to surrender some of their arsenal.
The only acceptable outcome remains the same one envisioned before negotiations began: Hamas must unconditionally dismantle itself as both a military and political organization. Its weapons should be confiscated, not purchased or "stored." Its ideology of jihad should never be rewarded with cash. Anything less will not bring peace and security -- it will simply finance the next war.
The Cartography of a SlanderA few concrete blocks will shape the fate of the entire Middle East
In his recent analysis, “All they will find is sand,” Eyal Weizman uses the tools of forensic architecture to map Gaza’s physical landscape’s destruction. With great pathos, he argues that the “ungrounding” of Gaza—the systematic demolition of its buildings, the churning of its soil, and the erasure of its archives—constitutes a genocidal campaign to render the territory uninhabitable. For Weizman, the “sand” left behind is not merely the debris of war but the intentional end product of a Zionist settler-colonial project that seeks the total displacement of the Palestinian people.
However, Weizman’s analysis suffers from a profound methodological blind spot. By focusing exclusively on the “above,” he overlooks the most significant military factor of the conflict: the “below.” In his lengthy essay, Weizman never mentions Hamas’ formidable military network deeply embedded underneath and throughout Gaza’s city life. This omission is not merely a technical oversight; it is the foundation of a “genocide canard” that replaces military necessity with a pathologized version of state intent.
For Weizman, this itself is the stock pattern of “Zionist settler-colonialism” – the constant drive to expand the state’s borders, necessitating ever greater displacement of Palestinians. Weizman puts the cart before the horse – Zionism is genocidal and expansionist, therefore Israel’s military actions are genocidal and expansionist. His article is based on the problematic research of a project called “Cartography of Genocide: Israel’s Conduct in Gaza since October 2023” by Forensic Architecture. This is a London-based investigative agency led by Eyal Weizman that uses architectural methods to investigate human rights violations, state violence and environmental crimes.
The “Two Gazas”: Above and Below
Weizman’s argument rests on a meticulous, almost reverent, cataloging of Gaza’s “built environment.” Through Forensic Architecture’s lens, he presents Gaza as composed of schools, universities, bakeries, and heritage sites—what he terms the “ground” of Palestinian life. For Weizman, the destruction of these structures is not a byproduct of combat but a deliberate “spatial violence” intended to erase the physical possibility of Palestinian existence. By mapping the ruins of the Islamic University or Gaza City’s archives, he constructs a narrative of “urbicide,” in which the removal of every pillar and foundation is read as a step toward the “final displacement” of the population.
In nearly 5,000 words, it is telling that Weizman mentions Hamas a total of four times – twice to mention Hamas attacking Israeli “settlements” (within the pre-1967 Israel) on October 7th, and twice to describe them as Gaza’s current governing group. Nowhere does Weizman note the 500-600 kilometers of tunnels that Hamas dug throughout Gaza, connecting military bases, weapons depots, and facilities. The reader comes away with no understanding of Israel’s demolition project besides an insatiable desire to kill and expel Palestinians.
That alone should raise red flags as to Weizman’s fidelity to facts and their honest interpretation. Gaza’s tunnel system is one of the most intricate and extensive in the history of modern warfare, due in large part to Gaza’s soft sandstone topography. Gaza’s underground allows Hamas to shelter, regroup and attack Israeli soldiers. Small groups of terrorists are able to stealthily emerge from hidden shafts to ambush or fire at Israel. The only way to dismantle this challenge is through slow and painstaking operations, tunnel by tunnel. Hamas’s tunnel network has been called the “Viet Cong times 10” and is far more extensive than the improvised tunnels used by the Islamic State in Mosul and Raqqa. These tunnels are lined with prefabricated reinforced concrete, making them resilient even to heavy ordnance. Some are deep enough (up to 80 meters) and wide enough to accommodate small vehicles or rocket launchers.
Hamas succeeded in turning Gaza into a 360-degree battleground, using Gaza’s dense urban environment to fight guerrilla warfare.
A few hundred concrete blocks painted yellow now sit at the center of a debate that will shape—no exaggeration—the entire Middle East. On the day the hostages came home 10 months ago, the IDF held 52% of the Gaza Strip. Since then, it has expanded to 70%. Gazans wake up to find the “yellow line” buffer zone closer than it was, sometimes forcing them to evacuate again to stay out of the line of fire.New Gaza nutrition data coordinated with UNICEF ‘shows facts prevail over fiction,’ Danon says
Israel touts its expanding control of the Strip, though, in reality, there’s no advance of forces or new positions, only the widening of our troops’ firing line against approaching threats. The gap between the original lines and the current ones is what the fight over Gaza’s future now turns on. In principle, Israel doesn’t believe Hamas will disarm (or surrender its weapons to be melted down—a new American idea). It has no interest in a photo-op with U.S. President Donald Trump as long as it isn’t asked to withdraw.
The Americans tell Israel: 400 feet between you and them—what’s that? Move the concrete blocks back a little, and we’ll use it to force Hamas into the next stage. Worst case, a few hours of crane work and you’re back where you started. In Jerusalem, they resist, fearing a return to the withdrawals-first pattern that paved the whole road to Oct. 7. And in the background, there’s another political worry: With less than three months to the election, any withdrawal or agreement hurts Likud and the coalition. Itamar Ben-Gvir will bite from the right; Avigdor Lieberman, Naftali Bennett and Gadi Eisenkot from the left.
The Americans were caught off guard when Israel dug in against a withdrawal they considered purely tactical. Israel reminded them of the electoral calendar and of the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no great desire to concede now and collect the reward, if ever, only when it’s already too late. So, the thinking goes, let’s turn to the opposition leaders and have them publicly back the deal struck at the White House. For some reason, Lieberman, Bennett, Eisenkot and Yair Golan have yet to step in front of the cameras to call for an Israeli withdrawal and embrace Netanyahu. Surprising.
A round of primaries was held in the United States this week, and in a striking number of them, Gaza was front and center. Israel has a supreme interest in putting the issue to rest and beginning to recover in global public opinion; not, heaven forbid, by leaving Hamas in place, but through temporary tactical maneuvering that lets the Americans and their regional allies keep isolating the terrorists that still, barely, control the ruins of the city.
Eyes on him
“I will fight tooth and nail, if necessary,” Netanyahu said when former President Joe Biden moved towards a weapons embargo on him. But what, exactly, will the United States fight with? Even without an embargo, its own arsenals are approaching the red line fast. The commander of United States European Command warned the Pentagon that there aren’t enough resources to defend against the coming confrontation with Iran while protecting both Israel and American forces—they will have to choose.
Reuters reported that the U.S. Army has nearly exhausted its entire stock of precision missiles. In Israel, it was reported that the bunker-buster bombs of the kind dropped on Fordow last year are also nearly gone after a single night of strikes, making an attack on Pickaxe Mountain difficult.
And all this after just a few weeks of fighting a failing Middle Eastern dictatorship, torn from within and teetering on economic collapse. What happens if Russia stages a provocation somewhere else in Europe? Or if China decides to push forces toward Taiwan? The state of the U.S. military brings to mind the IDF on the eve of Oct. 7: An imposing image that, in practice, delivered failure after failure, draw after draw. Its only clear victory since the end of the Cold War was over Saddam Hussein, a quarter of a century ago.
The whole world is now watching Trump. Will he end the war with Iran still controlling the Strait of Hormuz, the regime still standing and its army merely licking its wounds?
New nutrition data collected via a survey coordinated with the U.N. Children’s Fund challenges international charges that Israel starved Gazans deliberately, according to Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations in New York.
“Once again, facts prevail over fiction,” the Israeli envoy said. “U.N. bodies are acknowledging that the false narrative against Israel is falling apart. Israel is not starving children. Israel is fighting Hamas terrorism, while Hamas uses civilians in Gaza as human shields.”
“Those who rushed to accuse Israel must now be held accountable for spreading lies,” he said.
The survey was carried out through the U.N.-led Nutrition Cluster, and it used World Health Organization nutritional assessment methods. It examined children’s weight, height and mid-upper-arm circumference to measure acute malnutrition. The results showed acute malnutrition rates ranging from 0.2% to 0.8% across Gaza.
Israel’s U.N. mission highlighted the findings as evidence that current child malnutrition levels are far below the thresholds typically associated with a nutrition emergency. Israeli officials also said that the rates are comparable to or lower than prewar levels in Gaza and below figures reported in several neighboring countries, including Egypt and Jordan.
The survey’s release comes amid continued disagreement over the international assessment of Gaza’s humanitarian situation.
In August 2025, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global food-security monitoring initiative used by U.N. agencies and aid organizations, said that famine conditions existed in parts of Gaza after analyzing indicators including food consumption, acute malnutrition and mortality. Critics noted that it altered one of its reporting metrics.
A new study commissioned by UNICEF shows that the nutritional situation in Gaza – contrary to all propaganda – is today better than in all neighboring Arab states and even better than in some European countries.
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) August 6, 2026
The proportion of acute malnutrition among children under five… pic.twitter.com/eiIoaeqNip
Five Palestinians accused in Hamas terror plot to appear in Cyprus court
Five Palestinian men accused of operating a Hamas-linked cell and planning terrorist attacks against Israeli targets in Cyprus are due to appear in a Larnaca court on Thursday for a procedural hearing.ICE Nabs Jordanian Illegal Released By Sanctuary Authorities With Backpack Full Of Molotov Cocktails
Prosecutors are expected to suspend three separate cases and consolidate them into a single indictment covering all five defendants before referring the case to the Larnaca Assize Court. It will not mark the start of witness testimony.
The investigation began on May 21 with the arrest of two men, ages 32 and 38, near Pentakomo. Police later found chemicals, including ammonium nitrate, and equipment that could be used to manufacture explosives at properties near Pentakomo and in Larnaca.
Investigators say the 32-year-old admitted being recruited by a Hamas operative, buying materials and photographing potential targets. The 38-year-old, a physics professor, allegedly entered Cyprus illegally through the Turkish-occupied north to assemble explosive devices.
A 54-year-old Palestinian with Cypriot citizenship is accused of receiving parcels containing dangerous substances. He denies involvement and remains in custody after a bail decision was overturned.
A 41-year-old arrested in Indonesia and deported to Cyprus is described as the network’s coordinator.
Federal agents arrested an illegal immigrant from Jordan after Illinois sanctuary authorities released him from custody despite an ICE detainer, following his arrest for allegedly carrying eight Molotov cocktails in his backpack, The Daily Wire has learned.Sydney woman allegedly threatened to kill senior politicians, police say
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers caught up to Hamed Mohammed Hamed Alsaidi, 31, on Tuesday after Will County officials released him from custody and ignored a federal detainer, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told The Daily Wire.
“Even though ICE lodged a detainer, sanctuary politicians in Will County, Illinois refused to honor it and released him without notifying ICE. Fortunately, thanks to the brave men and women of ICE, we have apprehended him and he remains in ICE custody,” a DHS spokesperson said, adding that the blame is on “Governor J.B. Pritzker and his fellow sanctuary politicians” who “need to stop putting American lives at risk with their reckless, America Last policies.”
Police in Mokena, Illinois, first encountered Alsaidi at a closed gas station around 2:52 a.m. on Saturday.
At the time, the illegal immigrant allegedly gave the fake name Hakmat Saidi to the police, according to Shaw Local.
“He was told he could not be there and was given a ride to another gas station that was open,” prosecutors said, according to the local outlet.
Officers later observed Alsaidi walking in lanes of traffic and arrested him before learning his real identity. At that point, authorities found “several bottles filled with gasoline and stuffed with rags” inside his backpack, police said.
A Western Sydney woman allegedly threatened to kill NSW Labor minister Jihad Dib, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, independent federal MP Allegra Spender and 15 others, NSW Police say.Proposed Hormuz passage deal not feasible for shipping industry, sources say
Court documents obtained by the ABC revealed details of the 62 charges facing 36-year-old Jasmine Baker, who was arrested by police on Wednesday morning at her home in Constitution Hill.
Included are 18 threats to kill, 23 stalking and intimidation charges, eight charges of using a postal service to menace, harass or offend, and 10 charges of making false accusations.
In total, police alleged Ms Baker sent death threat letters to five politicians, including Parramatta federal MP Andrew Charlton and Macnamara federal MP Josh Burns.
She also allegedly sent a death threat to 2GB presenter Mark Levy and to former president of the Australian Jewish Association, David Adler.
In May 2026, Strike Force Eckon from the Counter Terrorism & Special Tactics Command started investigating a large volume of "abusive" letters sent to multiple recipients.
The documents identified 23 alleged victims in total.
A proposed deal between Iran and Oman that would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz is not easily workable due to US sanctions and restrictive insurance clauses on any payments, four industry sources said.
Until US-Israeli airstrikes at the end of February unleashed war in Iran, the narrow waterway between the Gulf and the Indian Ocean was the main route for about a fifth of world oil supplies and other vital goods. It was freely open to all ships with no fees.
Control of the strait has been the biggest sticking point in efforts to end the conflict.
Under the latest proposal, Tehran would be able to intervene if necessary with any inbound traffic, while outbound traffic would follow a route between Iran and Oman, with exit clearance granted through Oman after notifying Iran, a senior Iranian source told Reuters this week.
The ability of merchant ships to navigate international waterways "safely, predictably and without unnecessary impediment is fundamental to resilient supply chains, economic stability and energy security," the world's leading shipping associations said in an open letter this week.
'A toll in all but name'
Introducing compulsory charges through the strait for transit or service fees was "a toll in all but name," the letter said, which was sent to the UN's shipping agency.
"It would establish a precedent that could undermine the internationally recognized legal framework governing straits used for international navigation and transit passage."
What is known as a two-way traffic separation scheme was adopted by the UN's shipping agency in 1968 with the agreement of countries in the region. It created the current ship-routing system that splits sailing corridors through Iranian and Omani waters.
Iran is seeking fees of between 5% and 7% of the price of cargoes from ships using the strait, according to the senior Iranian official. Oman is discussing fees of around 3%, while Washington wants no fees at all.
The UN's International Maritime Organization said it could not comment on reports of the proposals.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accuses Israel of destabilizing Syria for taking the minimum measures necessary to protect Israeli citizens from attacks. These are the same Turkish leaders who have spent decades violating the sovereignty of Syria while cynically lecturing others on…
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) August 6, 2026
🔎LOCATED: Thousands of facilities used by Hezbollah, including command centers, living quarters, launch sites, observation posts, underground infrastructure, and large quantities of weapons.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 6, 2026
Hezbollah established a broad operational network within villages in southern Lebanon,… pic.twitter.com/QTJ1zAQ9Ai
All sixty listed name-by-name below. Note that Hamas & PIJ have revealed mostly commander level combatants killed, few regular soldiers. This list will continue to grow and there are already more names to add. END https://t.co/r1x2Li4uPu
— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) August 6, 2026
The Arab Nurses Forum and at least one colleague identified al-Barai as a nurse at the Islamic University of Gaza's medical clinic, though he does not currently appear on the MOH list of healthcare workers killed. Machine translation renders حكيم as physician, but this is… pic.twitter.com/EkQTL9Lexj
— Gabriel Epstein (@GabrielEpsteinX) August 6, 2026
One post also appeared to mourn al-Barai (using a second kunya of Abu Rateb, rather than Abu Anas) as the commander of Hamas' Arrow (Sahm, here rendered as "piercing arrow") internal security unit in eastern Gaza City. al-Barai occasionally refers to himself on his personal page… pic.twitter.com/9uCBRlKc4V
— Gabriel Epstein (@GabrielEpsteinX) August 6, 2026
HonestReporting: The CPJ Files: What Our Research Uncovered | Moderated by Erin Molan
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is one of the most cited sources on journalist casualties in Gaza — but how solid is that data, really?
Join HonestReporting for an exclusive webinar breaking down our investigation into CPJ’s reporting methodology, moderated by award-winning journalist and broadcaster Erin Molan. We’ll walk through what we found, why it matters, and what it reveals — not just about one organization’s numbers, but about the state of the journalism profession itself and how the media is covering this war.
Barq Gaza news agency director Hassan Abu Warda is presented as just a journalist by @pressfreedom and @IFJGlobal on their databases of slain Palestinian media workers.
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 6, 2026
On Wednesday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad announced him as part of its Northern Brigade's Sniper Unit. pic.twitter.com/GXtvU2kPmq
al-Hajjar is not listed as a journalist by the Committee to Protect Journalists, but is by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and some third-party trackers. His death was also widely reported internationally. pic.twitter.com/vmbpPQ2KcS
— Gabriel Epstein (@GabrielEpsteinX) August 6, 2026
There was only one real open-source indication that al-Hajjar was a militant prior to PIJ claiming him in a list of obituaries released today: a video shared by a friend soon after his death, which shows him armed and refers to his jihadist work. pic.twitter.com/bBLNK23dcc
— Gabriel Epstein (@GabrielEpsteinX) August 6, 2026
Throughout the Gaza war "Civil Defense" personnel, sometimes in yellow vests, were routinely portrayed as innocent municipal workers. Repeatedly, they have turned out to be combatants using the civilian role as cover. Mujahideen Brigades commander Ahmad Maqdad is one example. pic.twitter.com/lhU5j1qmCa
— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) August 6, 2026
FDD: Subterranean Warfare: Can Pickaxe Mountain Be Destroyed? (feat. Yadin Soffer)
The next battlefield isn’t in the sky or at sea—it’s underground.
The Islamic Republic, together with Hamas and Hezbollah, spent decades building a subterranean fortress: hundreds of miles of terror tunnels beneath Gaza and Lebanon, and deeply buried nuclear and missile facilities designed to survive even the most powerful airstrikes. At the center of that strategy is Pickaxe Mountain, where Tehran is constructing hardened underground infrastructure intended to shield its nuclear weapons program from U.S. and Israeli airpower.
In this episode of The Iran Breakdown, host Mark Dubowitz sits down with Yadin Soffer, co-founder and CEO of Traysar, a startup developing autonomous systems for underground warfare. They explore how this emerging technology could detect, penetrate, and neutralize subterranean threats—and whether advances in underground warfare could change the strategic equation against deeply buried targets like Pickaxe Mountain.
Mossad head reportedly removes 2 senior officials behind failed Iran regime-change plan
Mossad Director Roman Gofman has removed two of the spy agency’s most senior officials who were closely involved in developing an unsuccessful plan to topple the Iranian regime, Israeli television reported Thursday.Call me Back: The Secret Plan to Weaponize the Kurds (Part 1) - with Itai Anghel
According to Channel 12 news, one of the officials had served since December as the head of the Mossad’s intelligence directorate, and the other was the head of the agency’s Iran division.
The network said the two were among the architects of a written operational plan to bring down the Islamic Republic with the help of Iran’s minority groups, encouraging revived mass protests to oust the regime.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly discussed the plan when persuading US President Donald Trump to go to war in February against the Islamic Republic.
Security sources cited by the network said the two officials and Gofman had clashed from the outset, but stressed their departures were being carried out by mutual agreement as part of a broader reorganization of the Mossad and that both were expected to remain at the agency in other roles.
The Mossad plan reportedly envisioned Israeli strikes on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps positions along Iran’s border with Iraq, in Iranian Kurdistan. The strikes were designed to open the door for Kurdish fighters to cross into Iran, according to The New York Times report, and push into Kurdish cities in the country’s northwest.
The Mossad expected thousands of young Kurds to join the fighters, turning into a mass movement that could reach Tehran itself. It was further thought that this would help embolden a mass protest movement with millions of demonstrators to bring down the regime, according to multiple reports.
The Kurdish offensive was one of the key elements of the plan, which also reportedly envisaged installing former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the Iranian leader.
The New York Times also reported last month that Israel engaged in a multi-year effort to recruit Ahmadinejad, in a campaign that included a meeting with then-Mossad chief David Barnea on the sidelines of an academic conference in Hungary. Ahmadinejad’s office denied the story.
Why did an Israeli-U.S. plan that counted on Kurdish fighters to help topple the Iranian regime fall apart?
Dan is joined by investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker Itai Anghel who risked his life to follow Kurdish fighters in Syria, Iraq and Iran to document their guerrilla warfare tactics, explore how Kurdish leaders viewed Israel, why that trust fractured, and how those experiences shaped their views of the Israeli-U.S. secret plan for Kurds to fight inside Iran. The conversation also examines why Kurdish women fighters are key, and the military, political, and regional obstacles that doomed the plot from the start. On August 10th, Part 2 will examine the plan from Israel’s intelligence and military perspectives.
In this episode:
1. Who are the Kurds, and why they matter
2. The surprising Kurdish bond with Israel
3. A stateless nation with big aspirations
4. Women fighters now and in the war against ISIS
5. Why Kurdish trust in Israel and the U.S. has eroded
6. Inside the Iranian Kurdish underground
7. The Kurds’ view of the U.S.-Israeli plan for Kurdish boots on the ground in Iran
8. Why, when and how the plan for Kurdish fighters fell apart
Ask Haviv Anything: 137: What does Qatar want?
Welcome to our new short-form episodes interspersed with the regular interviews and lectures that dive into an often-asked question about Israel, Jews and the Middle East.
In our current episode we ask: What does Qatar want?
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Qatar's Role in Middle East Geopolitics
01:59 The 1995 Coup and Qatar's Modernization
03:54 Qatar's Use of Soft Power and Muslim Brotherhood
05:47 Al Jazeera and the Promotion of Islamist Voices
09:10 Qatar's Support for Hamas and Palestinian Schisms
12:08 Hamas's Rise and Qatar's Patronage
15:01 Qatar's Influence on Palestinian Politics and Gaza
17:53 Israeli Strategies and Qatar's Role in Gaza
20:47 Qatar's Funding and Hamas's Infrastructure
24:13 Al Jazeera's Coverage and Global Influence
27:03 Qatar's Impact on Western Academia and Politics
29:56 The Qatar Gate Scandal and Deep Influence
32:51 Qatar's Ideological Agenda and Anti-Semitism
36:12 Media Framing and the Gaza War Narrative
39:01 Hamas, Al Jazeera, and the Information War
41:51 Qatar's Influence on Palestinian and Israeli Politics
44:46 Conclusion: Qatar's Strategic and Ideological Impact
During my interview with @FoxNews, I was asked what exactly is going on in Gaza.
— Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) August 6, 2026
This is what I told them 👇 pic.twitter.com/RwEtYK3Wvp
‘Hamas betrayed us for its own ends’: Palestinian calls out Islamist extremists
Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib is a peace advocate who grew up in Gaza before moving to the United States in 2005.
Mr Alkhatib condemns Hamas, claiming the Islamic extremist group brought destruction to Gaza and “betrayed Palestinians for its own ends”.
“The terror groups are a clear and present existential threat to the people of Gaza,” Mr Alkhatib told News24 host Chris Kenny.
“Tens of thousands of Palestinians would still be alive, most of Gaza would not be destroyed if Hamas had simply made different choices on October 7.”
Ex-Iranian women soccer players ‘proud’ to become Australian after claiming asylum
Two former Iranian women soccer players said Thursday they were “proud” to have been granted Australian citizenship after being branded traitors at home for refusing to sing the national anthem before a game.
Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh were members of a group of seven from Iran’s delegation who asked for Australia’s protection following the high-profile protest during the women’s Asian Cup in March.
With their demands for protection an embarrassment for Iran’s leaders but lauded by US President Donald Trump, five later changed their minds and returned home.
Pasandideh and Ramezanisadeh stayed, however, and were granted Australian citizenship at a ceremony on Wednesday overseen by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.
“Yesterday was a truly special and unforgettable day for me. I feel proud and deeply grateful to become an Australian citizen,” Ramezanisadeh said in a statement.
“After everything we’ve been through and all the challenges we faced, this moment means more than words can express,” Pasandideh added.
🚨 Bill Maher says women can't be neutral on Israel.
— Israel Truth Network (@Israel_TruthNet) August 4, 2026
His reasoning isn't what most people expect.
Watch this. pic.twitter.com/Gq3d2Dk6oR
And in another episode of “Accuse others of that which you are guilty of”….
— Joey Mate™️ 🇦🇺 🇳🇱 (@Joey1800callme) August 6, 2026
Tali Aynalem, ex-ADF veteran, and Ethiopian Jew, dispelling the BS about apartheid in Israel….
You want real racism and apartheid - in fact where slavery still exists today? Look no further than your… pic.twitter.com/YpaVhd3qPY
Full discussion - On the Record in-depth news show: https://t.co/4etN81KRzr
— Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (@afalkhatib) August 6, 2026
Isn’t it ironic how it’s the West’s and Western Media’s bigotry and refusal to understand and respect Arab culture that leads to it getting exposed by terrorists?
— Jake Donnelly (@RedWhiteBlueJew) August 6, 2026
Simply put: terrorists take pride in being terrorists.
They want you to know that if they died in service of… pic.twitter.com/KFYhjVr5Eh
travelingisrael.com: Surviving the Famine in Gaza 2026 (Graphic Content 🍔)
Gaza 2026. Come and see the real Gaza—not the one portrayed by the international media. Follow Gazawood for more videos exposing what mainstream coverage often leaves out.
Jordanian Deputy Parliament Speaker Khamis Atieh: The Zionists Cannot be Trusted, the Jews Deceived the Prophets; We Do Not Recognize the Division of Jerusalem to East and West, We Want All of It, All of Palestine; the Zionist Entity Is a Cancer pic.twitter.com/4lMC7TFsKE
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) August 6, 2026
⬆️ @Telegraph reports that Israel struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in response to a Hezbollah ceasefire violation - and later updates the story to note that two IDF soldiers were killed by Hezbollah explosives.
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 6, 2026
⬇️ @Independent_ie republishes that same Telegraph… pic.twitter.com/KlE1eChsCG
Hezbollah planted an explosive device and killed two Israeli soldiers.
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 6, 2026
This was a violation of its ceasefire with Israel.
Leave it to @guardian to minimize this violation, instead focusing on the Israeli response.
For The Guardian, it's not news unless Israel can be portrayed… pic.twitter.com/P4ovbTVFod
.@SBS calls PM @Netanyahu's statement an "unverified claim" and emphasizes there's "no publicly available evidence."
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 6, 2026
But Iran's insistence its nuclear program is peaceful is presented without the slightest caveat - even though the public record, including IAEA findings, gives… pic.twitter.com/GvJ1buutE8
Run Hide Fight: Infidels | Official Trailer
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) August 6, 2026
When radical Islamic terrorists hijack a liberal college, a ragtag band of students and a Delta Force vet must arm up to keep America from surrendering to the enemy on its own soil.
Coming exclusively to The Daily Wire, September 16. pic.twitter.com/pKXBSRjrQS
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Reclaiming the Covenant on America's 250th (May 2026) "He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022) |
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