Tuesday, August 11, 2026

08/10 Links Pt1: The Arab-Islamic Formula for 'Peace': Ignore Hamas, Blame Israel; Bondi Royal Commission blasted over snubbing Josh Frydenberg; UN data counts Palestinian terror as ‘settler violence’

From Ian:

Jonathan Conricus: Disarm, verify, withdraw. The only path forward for Gaza
Nikolai Mladenov’s newly announced Gaza agreement offers a rare glimmer of hope amid years of bloodshed and despair. At its core is a straightforward proposition: the phased disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian terror organizations in exchange for the eventual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip. Israelis and Gazans alike desperately want Hamas’s weapons taken away, Gaza demilitarized, and a new form of leadership to take root—one rooted in respectful coexistence rather than endless jihad.

The desire for this outcome runs deep. Many Israelis, stil reeling from the horrors of October 7, when Hamas invaders massacred civilians in border communities, see demilitarization as the only reliable way to restore security to the kibbutzim and towns that face Gaza. They have no appetite for indefinite military operations. Popular rhetoric aside, neither the Israeli public nor the military wants to remain in Gaza indefinitely. What they want is simple: the absence of a genocidal terror organization on the other side of the fence, armed with rockets, tunnels, and an ideology of annihilation.

Gazans, too, have every reason to support this. Years of rule by a mafia that prioritizes tunnels and rockets over schools, hospitals, and prosperity have exacted a terrible tol. A Gaza free of Hamas’s military apparatus could finally begin to rebuild and choose life over perpetual conflict.

Yet history teaches caution. Hamas has a well-documented record of tactical pauses. The Islamic concept of ‘Hudna’—a temporary cessation of hostilities—has been invoked when jihadi forces find themselves at a disadvantage, only to be broken once strength is regained. If the current peace deal amounts to nothing more than another Hudna, it wil fail.

What is required instead is genuine, complete disarmament: every long-range rocket, every AK-47, maps of the entire tunnel network, and the locations of weapons manufacturing sites, all handed over under independent international verification. Only then does the plan become something more than a ruse. Only then does it become a foundation for lasting change.

Israel’s actions wil hinge entirely on whether that verification occurs. The absence of an immediate official Israeli endorsement is understandable in the current political climate. With elections approaching, any government is wary of appearing to accept international dictates that place civilians at risk. No responsible leadership wil sign onto an arrangement that leaves the core threat intact. But once Hamas’s arsenal is demonstrably gone and the Strip is verifiably demilitarized, Israel has every incentive to withdraw. There is no strategic or public desire to remain. The moment the threat disappears, the justification for military action disappears with it.

Before October 7, Israel was not conducting operations inside Gaza. The pattern of cause and effect is clear: rockets, tunnels, and invasions produce defensive responses. Remove the cause, and the response ends.
Keep the gas on the counterterrorism pedal
In Gaza and Lebanon, Israel is compelled to play the diplomatic game being led by Washington in order to continue enjoying its support and avoid being portrayed as the recalcitrant party. But Israel must not allow that game to constrain its freedom of action to destroy terrorist infrastructure and eliminate terrorists wherever they may be.

Over the weekend, Israel rejected current plans to disarm Hamas. Its reasons were clear: Despite the efforts of the United States, the terrorist organization has no intent to do so.

While the CEO of the Board of Peace, Nikolay Mladenov, has maneuvered between the intricacies of the “20-point plan” and the “15-point framework” to reassure Israel, Hamas has made its intentions regarding the commitments contained in these agreements perfectly clear.

“We do not intend to hand over the weapons to Israel,” says senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad. “No disarmament process will take place before Israel completes its withdrawal from the Strip.”

For those who may have difficulty remembering, this is the same Ghazi Hamad who, just days after the massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, explained in media interviews that Israel is “a state that we want to bring down” and promised that the “‘Al-Aqsa Flood’ is only the first time. There will be a second, third and fourth time. We have the resilience and the ability to fight and pay the price.”

This is also the same Ghazi Hamad who, in an interview last week with English broadcaster Piers Morgan, insisted that Hamas had never intended to kill civilians on Oct. 7, attempting to blur—and even deny—the seminal event that ignited the ensuing war.

The long arm of Israel’s security services has not yet reached him, but the score will yet be settled.

Either way, if anyone had any doubts, Hamad’s words make clear that Hamas views the diplomatic talks merely as leverage to drive the Israel Defense Forces out of Gaza, without relinquishing either its military power or its ruling infrastructure.

Meanwhile, with the assistance of the Board of Peace, Gaza terrorists have received, free of charge, a 14-day respite from the blitz of Israeli targeted counterterrorism strikes that had been hitting them until a week ago.
Khaled Abu Toameh: The Arab-Islamic Formula for 'Peace': Ignore Hamas, Blame Israel
The foreign ministers of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt accused Israel of "violating" international law and undermining efforts to implement the Board of Peace's recently published "Roadmap for Completing the Implementation of President Trump's Comprehensive Peace Plan in Gaza." They also called for those responsible for "grave violations" to be held accountable.

The ministers forgot to mention that Hamas, by refusing to disarm and continuing to hold on to power in the Gaza Strip, is the party committing "grave violations."

If accountability is important, why does it apply only to Israel?

Where is the demand that Hamas be held accountable for bringing death and destruction upon the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip by launching its invasion of Israel?

Why not issue a clear demand that Hamas surrender all its weapons? The omission is especially disturbing because three of the countries represented in the statement – Turkey, Qatar and Pakistan – are members of Trump's Board of Peace and are supposedly helping to bring security and stability to the Gaza Strip.

Do the Arabs and Muslims — or the Europeans — really believe that creating a Palestinian state would automatically produce peace? Who would prevent Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad from taking over such a state? Who would confiscate their weapons? Who would prevent Iran or Turkey from supplying Palestinian proxies with weapons, money and training? Who would guarantee that a future Palestinian state would not be used to launch more October 7-style attacks against Israel?

Israel withdrew every soldier and expelled every Jewish resident from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Palestinians subsequently had an opportunity to demonstrate what self-rule could look like. Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian Authority parliamentary election and seized full control of the Gaza Strip the following year.

Instead of turning the Gaza Strip into a model of prosperity and coexistence, Hamas transformed it into a base for terrorism against Israel. Why should Israel be expected to repeat this "experiment" on a much larger and more dangerous scale — either in Gaza or in the West Bank, overlooking major Israeli population centers?

Peace will not come from ignoring Hamas, demonizing Israel and Jews, or repeating slogans about a "two-state solution" as though October 7 had never happened. It will come only when the international community — including Arab and Islamic countries — makes it clear that armed jihadist organizations cannot be allowed to control Palestinian territory, possess private armies, or determine the future of Israelis and Palestinians through terrorism. That would be a far more useful message for Arab and Islamic governments to deliver than yet another communique condemning Israel.


‘History will judge’: Calls for Anthony Albanese, Tony Burke, Penny Wong to face royal commission into antisemitism
Shadow defence minister James Paterson has called for the Prime Minister, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong to give evidence to the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

Mr Paterson warned the inquiry, which is currently in its eighth hearing block, would struggle to be taken seriously if the senior political figures responsible for Australia’s response to antisemitism were not questioned.

Speaking to News24 host Sharri Markson, Mr Paterson said the ministers should face questions about the government’s response to antisemitism before the Bondi attack.

“We need the Prime Minister to appear before the royal commission,” he said.

“We need the Home Affairs Minister to be there for the royal commission. We need the Attorney-General and the Foreign Minister to appear before the royal commission.

“They should be cross-examined about what they did and what they didn't do to combat antisemitism in the lead-up to the horrific terrorist atrocity at Bondi."

Mr Paterson warned the absence of those witnesses would raise questions about the inquiry’s purpose.

“If that doesn't happen, I think it'll be very difficult to take this royal commission seriously,” Mr Paterson said.

The royal commission was established after the Bondi Beach terror attack last year, which claimed the lives of 15 people at a Chanukah celebration.

The inquiry has already heard from a number of Jewish community figures and politicians.

Those witnesses have included former Labor attorney-general Mark Dreyfus, Labor MP Josh Burns and Liberal MP Julian Leeser.

Mr Paterson also wants former treasurer Josh Frydenberg called before the inquiry after it was revealed he would not be giving evidence despite helping push for the commission to be established.

In an opinion piece published in The Australian, Mr Frydenberg said he was informed by the commission’s legal team last Friday that he would not be called as a witness.

Mr Frydenberg originally made a submission to the inquiry and indicated he was willing to appear.
‘Protection racket’: Royal Commission blasted over snubbing Josh Frydenberg
News24 host Sharri Markson questions why the Royal Commission has refused to hear from former treasurer Josh Frydenberg while taking evidence from a range of controversial pro-Palestinian activists and Muslim clerics.

“The Royal Commission has heard from over 200 witnesses, including controversial pro-Palestinian activists and Muslim clerics,” Ms Markson said.

“But they've refused to hear testimony from the highest-ranking Jewish-Australian government minister in history, Josh Frydenberg.

“This is despite the Royal Commission hearing from controversial figures like Sarah Shwartz, Shadi Alsuleiman, Yasmine Johnson and Dr Ali Alsamail, among others.

“There is speculation in the Jewish community that the only explanation for the decision not to hear testimony from Josh Frydenberg or me is that it was politically motivated owing to our criticism of the Albanese government's lack of leadership.

“It makes you wonder if this Royal Commission is running a protection racket for the Albanese government.”




The idea there was famine in Gaza was a hoax, and the West fell for it completely
For almost three years, we have been told that Israel is starving the children of Gaza. That Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war. We’ve been fed the most terrible and tragic images of emaciated children. Accusations have flown thick and fast. Starving babies. Famine. Intentional targeting of children. Genociders. All trumpeted by NGOs, UN officials, politicians, journalists, and commentators. Influencers and celebrities have jumped on the bandwagon to demonise Israel, treating accusation and allegation as proven fact.

Only it’s a lie. Or rather, a series of lies.

The UN’s own figures debunk one of the most poisonous accusations, nay libels, made against the Jewish State throughout the war in Gaza.

A UNICEF-coordinated nutrition survey carried out across Gaza between 31 May and 15 June 2026 found that acute malnutrition among children under five in Gaza was averaging approximately 0.5 per cent, ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 per cent across the governorates surveyed. After almost three years of supposed, deliberate starvation, Gaza’s acute child malnutrition rate sits firmly within the IPC’s lowest category, officially described as “Acceptable”.

Perhaps more telling is that the state of malnutrition in Gaza is better, in many cases far better, than almost all the countries in the Middle East.

The graph below outlines the Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) and child wasting percentages across various Middle Eastern countries based on the latest available data from agencies like UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC):


Just to clarify, in case you missed it… Children under 5 years old, in countries in the region that are not at war, have higher rates of acute malnutrition than children in Gaza, despite almost three years of a war in which Israel is accused of intentionally starving Gaza’s children.

There are no marches for the starving children in Yemen, Syria, Oman or Bahrain, all of which are above the WHO emergency threshold of 5%. No one is protesting Iran, Saudi Arabia, or Egypt, all of which are way worse than Gaza. Apparently, no one gives a toss, unless they can blame Israel.

This does not mean there is not hunger in Gaza, that children aren’t suffering the terrible consequences of war. War is ugly, brutal and miserable. But hunger is not famine, and hunger during a war is not proof of deliberate starvation.

Apparently, Israel’s supposed strategy of deliberately and systematically starving Gaza’s children for almost three years has been an abject failure. Despite what you are being told by disingenuous charlatans and propagandists, when it comes to acute malnutrition, Gaza’s under-fives are better off than just about every country in the region.

It’s a miracle! Either that, or someone is lying, and getting a lot of help in the process.

This isn’t the first time the starvation narrative has run into the irritating inconvenience of evidence.

In May 2025, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher went on the BBC to announce that 14,000 babies would die within forty-eight hours unless food aid reached Gaza.

14,000 babies, dead within 48 hours. Now that is truly horrendous.

It was the sort of claim designed for the age in which nobody reads beyond a headline. Except, that was another lie. Nobody thought to check. No one examined the claim, which was as ludicrous as it was dishonest.

But a highly effective and damaging piece of propaganda, just the same, as it exploded around the world, eagerly trumpeted by the usual subjects. It went viral as further proof of Israeli barbarity.
Special Report: UN data counts Palestinian terror as ‘settler violence’
On the night of Jan. 27, 2026, violence broke out in the herding hills of Masafer Yatta—that much everyone agrees on. What happened next depends on who’s telling it: A U.N. dashboard logged it as a 100-strong “settler” rampage; Israeli military communications describe a Palestinian attack on a shepherd that preceded it. The gap between those two accounts is at the center of a dispute over how the international community measures “settler violence” in Judea and Samaria.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), around 100 Israeli “settlers” raided four Palestinian communities, attacked residents with knife-tipped sticks, stole roughly 300 sheep, burned three tons of firewood, vandalized homes and vehicles and injured six Palestinians.

According to military messages, radio communications and field material reviewed by The Press Service of Israel (TPS-IL), the incident began when Palestinians from Halawa, one of the communities in Masafer Yatta, attacked a Jewish shepherd with rocks, injured him and stole his flock. Israeli forces later searched the area and recovered the animals, according to a TPS-IL review of military communications.

Over several months, TPS-IL reviewed incidents listed by OCHA in its humanitarian reporting on Judea and Samaria between January and May 2026, comparing the U.N. agency’s descriptions with Israeli military accounts, public statements, local documentation, media reports, and interviews with Israeli researchers and activists.

TPS-IL did not attempt to independently verify every incident in OCHA’s database. Rather, it examined cases where available Israeli security accounts, public documentation, or other records raised questions about classification and whether competing accounts were reflected in international reporting.

Israeli officials, police records, military sources and critics of OCHA acknowledge that Jewish Israelis have committed violence against Palestinians and that criminal acts should be prosecuted. The narrower question is methodological: How does OCHA classify “settler-related violence,” how are incidents verified, and how are disputed cases used in international discussions about sanctions, diplomacy and policy?

TPS-IL sent OCHA detailed questions and examples from its review two weeks before publication. OCHA did not respond.

TPS-IL also contacted the European Union and three far-left nongovernmental organizations frequently cited in discussions of Israeli-Palestinian violence: B’Tselem, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and Breaking the Silence. The NGOs did not respond, and an E.U. spokesperson replied with a terse email.


Trump demands Iran compensate families of US citizens injured in IRGC-orchestrated attacks
US President Donald Trump demanded that Iran compensate the families of all US citizens injured or killed in attacks orchestrated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in a post on Truth Social on Monday.

"I am likewise demanding compensation from Iran, for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts, for which they are famous, as led initially by General Soleimani, including the families of those killed on the USS Cole, and thousands of others killed in combat," Trump wrote.

"General Soleimani" refers to Iranian arch-terrorist and IRGC Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani who was killed in a US airstrike on his vehicle in Baghdad in January 2020 at the end of Trump's first term as president.

The USS Cole was a US warship docked in Aden, Yemen, that was attacked by al-Qaeda terrorists on October 12, 2000, when two suicide pilots detonated a small bomb-laden boat, blasting a 40-foot hole in the side of the vessel, killing 17 US sailors and injuring 40 others.

"Additionally, compensation should be paid to the families of the hundreds of thousands of innocent protestors that Iran has killed over the last 50 years, not to mention the 52,000 that have been killed in the last five months. I have instructed my representatives to put this firmly into any, and all, future negotiations," the president added.

He stated that he has instructed US officials to require that compensation be included in any future deals or agreements negotiated between Washington and Tehran.

Trump also reiterated that the "five month Military Conflict" was "started because THEY WILL NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON."

"Also, with respect to the Iran negotiations, Iran should be responsible for the damages and death caused to the people of Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Gaza," Trump wrote in a subsequent Truth Social post shortly afterwards on Monday.


Iranian assassination threat prompted secret Trump transportation switch
An Iranian threat to assassinate US President Donald Trump prompted a secret security operation last month in which the president was flown from Turkey to the UK aboard an alternate military aircraft, while the White House publicly gave the impression that he was traveling on the older Air Force One, according to the Washington Post.

The covert mission, which had not previously been reported, was carried out without the knowledge of journalists and even some White House staff members, who believed they were traveling on the same aircraft as the president.

The report was based on materials reviewed by the Washington Post, as well as interviews with a US official familiar with the operation and another person familiar with the president's travel arrangements. Both spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

The administration said Trump left Turkey on July 8 aboard the older Air Force One. Trump also announced on social media that he would use the "former Air Force One," rather than the newer aircraft on which he had arrived in Turkey, a Boeing 747-8 given to the US as a gift from Qatar.

According to the report, however, Trump did not remain aboard the aircraft he was seen boarding in front of cameras.

Trump boarded Air Force One, then was secretly transferred
Trump was in Ankara for a NATO summit attended by leaders from around the world when the incident occured. The operation took place the night after US forces resumed military strikes against Iran on the president's orders, following the collapse of negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

That evening, Trump boarded the older blue and white Air Force One in front of television cameras and waved goodbye. Several minutes later, according to a US official and materials reviewed by the Washington Post, he was secretly transferred to a smaller US Air Force C-32A aircraft.

The transfer was carried out using a catering truck, typically used to load food and supplies onto aircraft. The truck was raised by a hydraulic system to a door on the opposite side of Air Force One from the entrance used by Trump and the journalists.

Trump and several of his aides entered the truck, which then moved away from Air Force One and drove toward the nearby C-32A.

According to the US official, the older aircraft effectively served as a "decoy." Journalists and several White House staff members remained aboard, believing Trump was traveling with them, while the president flew to the UK on the other aircraft.

The arrangement concealed Trump's actual location for several hours, not only from the American public but also from many senior administration officials.
Huckabee: Iran’s ballistic missiles can now reach European cities
U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Sunday that while the Iranian regime is weaker in the wake of the war, its ballistic missiles can now reach Europe.

“The Iranian regime is weaker than it has been in 47 years. The infliction of harm to them and the pain to them, is not something that is imagined. Their ability to produce a nuclear weapon has been greatly set back,” Huckabee told the panel of “Fox & Friends” on Fox News.

But Tehran’s missile capacity, “unfortunately, has grown”, he said. “In one year they went from being able to deliver a ballistic missile from 2,000 kilometers to over 4,100 kilometers. That puts their capacity to touch any city in most of Europe. London, Paris, Berlin, Rome. All of those cities are now in the sights of Iran,” the diplomat continued.

“How long will it be until they can launch one toward the United States?” he added.

During “Operation Epic Fury” in March, Iran launched a long-range missile at the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, which houses a joint U.S.-U.K. military base.

The strike was unsuccessful, Britain’s defense ministry said at the time.

“The Iranian terrorist regime launched a long-range missile for the first time since the start of ‘Operation Roaring Lion’ that could reach a distance of ~4,000 km,” or some 2,500 miles, the Israel Defense Forces stated following the incident.

“We have been saying it: The Iranian terrorist regime poses a global threat. Now, with missiles that can reach London, Paris or Berlin,” the IDF added.

“With the limited exception of the Iberian Peninsula [in Spain and Portugal], the alliance’s territory now falls within Iran’s evolving missile engagement envelope, including systems derived from its SLV [Space Launched Vehicle] program,” Hudson Institute senior fellow Can Kasapoğlu wrote in the wake of the attack, referring to NATO.

Kasapoğlu assessed that Iran may have extended its strike distance by scaling down the payload of its Khorramshahr-4 medium-range ballistic missile to reduce impact damage. However, he noted it was more likely that an SLV such as the Ghaem-100 missile—developed under the guise of Iran’s civilian space programs—was used in the attack on Diego Garcia.

The British, French, and German governments warned in a joint letter sent to the United Nations Security Council in 2022 that the Ghaem-100 that Tehran had unveiled on Nov. 5, 2022, could be used as an intermediate-range ballistic missile, which typically reach ranges between 3,000 and 5,500 kilometers (1,860 and 3,400 miles).


US controls Strait of Hormuz, Trump says
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States controls the Strait of Hormuz and had swept the strategic oil waterway for Iranian mines.

"Look, the only one that has control of the Strait of Hormuz right now is the United States Navy," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "We've mine-swept the entire strait." Trump says Strait of Hormuz 'sort of open'

Last week, while signing an executive order in the White House, Trump said that the Strait of Hormuz was "sort of open right now."

"You know, we have a thing called the blockade, headed up by the US Navy, and we control it," he said. "But they can always shoot something."

"They always have something or drop a mine," he warned, "and if you have one mine sitting out there, you sort of mess things up because people don’t want to take their billion-dollar boats and accidentally get hit by a mine.”
Saudi Arabia's new alliance did nothing when a drone hit Jizan
The fire at the Aramco refinery in Jizan started Sunday morning. Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesman, said his forces had hit it with a drone, precisely, in retaliation for Saudi drones over Saada and Hajjah. The Saudi energy ministry confirmed the fire and said it was extinguished.

Forty-eight hours earlier, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had stood together in Mecca and signed an agreement stating that an armed attack on any one of their countries would be regarded as an attack on all three.

Turkey said nothing. Pakistan said nothing. There was never any reason to think otherwise.

Israeli commentary reached for the largest available frames: an Islamic NATO, a Sunni axis, a Pakistani nuclear umbrella over the kingdom. The Prime Minister's Office declined to comment at all. The pact deserves neither response.

The joint statement says the agreement strengthens collective deterrence against aggression. The text has not been published, so everything written about the pact rests on what officials choose to describe.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has described it the most. He told Anadolu the collective-defense clause is technically comparable to NATO's Article 5, and named the institutions: a ministerial committee and a permanent secretariat in Saudi Arabia. Then he added the part almost nobody covered. If one member is attacked, the others consult to determine the nature and scale of any assistance. Consultation is what NATO members do too. It is also what they did in February 2003, when three of them blocked planning for Turkey's own defense before the Iraq war.


Netanyahu spokesman to JNS: Hamas must disarm before Gaza pullout
Israel will unequivocally reject any Gaza Strip ceasefire framework that fails to require the total disarmament of Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new international spokesperson said on Monday, warning that the terrorist group must be completely stripped of its arsenal before Israel considers withdrawing it troops.

“The prime minister is not going to do anything that is going to put the Israeli people at risk,” Doron Spielman told JNS, emphasizing that Netanyahu is “aware of Hamas’s intentions” and that the group is “just as committed to terrorism today” as it was when it led the Palestinian massacre of Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023. “The only thing they’re lacking is the ability” to carry out another atrocity, he added.

Netanyahu insists the terrorist group must “truly disarm” before any agreement moves forward, the spokesperson said. “By truly disarming, I mean all of their weapons are going to be handed over and removed from the area, from Gaza,” Spielman said the premier told him.

Netanyahu on Sunday announced that Jerusalem rejects the roadmap on Hamas disarmament announced by U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace on July 30.

If all of the weapons are not removed, it “would enable Hamas to reconstitute itself,” Spielman, appointed to the position on July 1, said in a phone interview from Ma’ale Adumim. “And therefore the 15-point plan is not accepted by Israel because it removes the teeth from the 20-point plan, which is that Hamas has to disarm before anything moves forward.”

Trump introduced the 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in September of last year, requiring Hamas to lay down its arms, and Jerusalem accepted the framework. The recent 15-point plan was reached with Hamas terrorists through Qatar, Turkey and Egypt, and Jerusalem is not a party to it.

However, Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for the Strip, told Channel 12 on Sunday that the 15-point roadmap does not require an IDF pullback from the Yellow Line until Hamas’s disarmament is verified “sector by sector” under American-led oversight. Stressing that the framework relies on proof rather than trust, Mladenov said that weapons—including personal firearms—would be collected and tunnels systematically destroyed before military withdrawals occur, adding that the plan’s goal is “to make sure that Gaza is never again a threat to Israeli security.”


Israel said to tell US it will keep targeting Oct. 7 terrorists as Gaza disarmament stalls
Israel informed the White House recently that it would be willing to negotiate an agreement halting the targeted killings of Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, but that any such deal would exclude those who took part in the October 7, 2023, attack, Channel 13 news reported on Monday.

The report that Israel had insisted on continuing to target terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre came a day after The Times of Israel reported that the IDF had halted a special operation to hunt down and kill every terrorist involved in the attack.

Jerusalem allegedly conveyed its position to Washington against the backdrop of discussions on the US-backed Board of Peace’s roadmap for the disarmament of the Gaza Strip, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally rejected on Sunday, when he said Israeli troops would not withdraw from the enclave until Hamas is “genuinely disarmed.”

Despite Netanyahu’s public rejection, a Board of Peace official told Reuters on Monday that the disarmament plan was still on the table and that discussions with Israel were continuing.

“The plan is very much still operative and advancing,” the official told Reuters.

“The process is based on implementation and verification on the ground. Discussions with Israel are continuing, and the framework is designed so that each stage only moves forward once the required commitments have been met,” the official said.

US President Donald Trump announced last month that there had been a breakthrough in his peace plan for the Gaza Strip, in the form of a 15-point proposal for the IDF to withdraw and Hamas to hand over its weapons.


Rambam Hospital denies Arab staff mistreated wounded soldier after family sounds alarm
The Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa on Sunday denied allegations of malpractice, after relatives of a soldier recently injured in Lebanon accused the hospital’s Arab staff of mistreating their loved one.

The accusations were quickly echoed by far-right politicians, while Arab MKs hit back, saying the incident was another example of widespread racism against Arab-Israelis who are deeply integrated in Israel’s health care system.

One of the accusers, Yehoshua Shani, chairman of the right-wing Gvura Forum for families of soldiers killed fighting in Gaza and father of the late Cpt. Ori Mordechay Shani, is the uncle of one of four soldiers who were seriously wounded last week after being hit by an explosive device in the southern Lebanon town of Majdal Zoun.

Shani took to X on Sunday to accuse the hospital’s night-shift nursing staff, which he described as “Arabic-speakers,” of depriving his nephew, Eitan, of water and turning him over in bed “like a sardine,” allegedly slamming his head into the bed.

According to Shani, Eitan had been sedated and on a ventilator until Saturday. That night, hospital staff asked family members to leave, as is customary in intensive care units.

But Shani portrayed the routine measure as alarming because the soldiers were left in the care solely of Arabic-speaking medical workers.

“At a certain point, all the families were removed from the department, and the doors were locked,” Shani recounted. “You need to understand the situation: Four seriously injured IDF soldiers, who had just returned from combat in Lebanon, are left alone behind locked doors, without their family members, while the entire staff on shift speaks Arabic.”

David Chesterman, the brother of the same wounded soldier, made similar allegations on Instagram.

“At night, a new shift arrived at the unit, all of them Arabic-speakers,” Chesterman wrote in a series of pictures of hospital equipment. “They took all the families out and locked the doors.”

Chesterman said that after staff refused to allow the family to enter his brother’s hospital room, he forced his way in.

“I broke down the door to make sure he was okay. He wasn’t. He begged for water and no one was around,” Chesterman claimed. “He whispered to me that they had brutally turned him over in bed ‘like a sardine,’ his head was slammed against the bed and no one cared.”

The accusations were quickly seized upon by far-right and populist politicians.

Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the Israel Defense Forces to investigate the incident in coordination with all relevant parties.
Israel-Lebanon talks said to include request to relocate Jewish graves to Israel
Israel has requested the transfer of the remains of Jews buried in cemeteries in Lebanon to Israel as part of negotiations between Jerusalem and Beirut over a permanent agreement, according to a report on Monday.

The Israeli side has pointed to a large number of Jewish graves in Beirut and Sidon which belong to people who have relatives currently living in Israel, Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported.

Jews resided in Lebanon for centuries. Lebanon was the only Arab country whose Jewish population grew after the establishment of Israel in 1948, reaching around 10,000 people. But the community quickly dwindled after that, numbering in the low hundreds in the 1970s, and has since shrunk to just a few dozen at most today.

The issue was reportedly raised in the context of talks over Lebanese prisoners who were detained during the war in Lebanon and are being held in Israel, whose release Lebanon is demanding.

According to the report, Israel proposed transferring the remains from Lebanon as part of what it called a “civilian prisoner exchange deal,” which would include the transfer of the remains and the release of only some of the detained Lebanese, excluding Hezbollah operatives.

The Saudi Asharq News TV station reported last week that the talks in Rome included a “legal” track which dealt with Lebanese prisoners held by Israel — separate from detained Hezbollah operatives.


Commentary Podcast: No Way Out
We are back to discuss the never ending cycle of the Iran war and the forming regional alliances in the wake of an American power vacuum, as well as the president's polling and the looming electoral disaster in the midterms.


Call me Back: The Secret Plan to Weaponize the Kurds (Part 2) - with Nadav Eyal
Did disagreements between Mossad and the IDF help lead to systematic failure to deploy Kurdish fighters and to topple the regime in Iran?

Dan is joined by Nadav Eyal who provides an in-depth analysis of Israel's covert plans to destabilize Iran, the role of Kurdish forces, and the internal decision-making failures that may have impacted the outcome of the war and regional security. This episode unpacks the complexities behind secret operations, disagreements between Mossad and the IDF, and the geopolitical implications for Israel and Iran.

In this episode:
Israel's covert war goals and tactics in Iran
The plan vs. the reality of the role of Kurdish fighters in the attack
Internal disagreements within Israeli security agencies and how that played out
How the impact of Turkish influence was underestimated
Intelligence failures, decision-making breakdowns between the Mossad and IDF


Colombia becomes second country to recognize Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights, joining US
Colombia has recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the country’s Foreign Ministry announced on Monday.

In a statement released on X/Twitter, the ministry stated that it recognizes Israeli control over the area as “an essential component of its national defense and its ability to protect and safeguard its citizens."

The recognition resulted from a commitment made by both Israel and Colombia on Saturday, the ministry said.

In its declaration, Bogota became only the second UN member state to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory captured from Syria in 1967 and effectively annexed by Israel in 1981, after the United States recognized Israeli sovereignty in 2019 during US President Donald Trump’s first term in office.

Gideon Sa'ar: Colombia demonstrated 'commitment to Israel' in declaration
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar thanked Colombian President Álvaro de la Espriella for the move and Colombian Foreign Minister Omar Bola Escobar for his cooperation on the matter.

"Israel is a small country without strategic depth. Defensible borders are essential to ensure the continued existence of the Jewish people in their historic homeland," the foreign minister wrote on his social media accounts.

"I will continue working to see more countries join the United States, under President Trump’s leadership, and Colombia, under President de la Espriella’s leadership, in recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, to which Israeli law was extended 45 years ago."

Sa’ar also praised the recognition as a show of the newly-elected Espriella’s leadership, values, and commitment to Israel, coming in the wake of the foreign minister’s recent visit to South America.
Serbia and Israel’s Elbit set to open joint combat drone factory in September
Serbia plans to open a manufacturing plant with Israeli defense giant Elbit Systems in mid-September to jointly produce drones to modernize its defenses and bolster exports of unmanned systems and military equipment.

Speaking at a press conference during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Belgrade, Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vučić said over the weekend that Serbia will open a drone factory with Israelis around September 15 or September 20. Elbit declined to comment on further details when contacted by The Times of Israel.

As part of the partnership, Elbit will hold a 51 percent majority stake in the UAV plant with Serbia’s SDPR state weapons manufacturer holding the remainder. The facility, planned for the Simanovci industrial zone near Belgrade, is expected to include short-range attack combat drones, alongside the development and production of advanced unmanned systems designed to operate at longer ranges, and advanced electronic warfare systems.

The Balkan country ‌has been buying modern weapons and equipment from Europe, Israel and China as it replaces Soviet-era technology and adapts its military strategy to conform with modern warfare.

Serbia has become one of Israel’s closest allies in Europe, though it is not in the European Union or NATO. In April, Vučić first announced plans to jointly produce combat drones with Israel. In the same month, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Đurić announced, during a meeting in Jerusalem, a free trade agreement and the launch of a new strategic dialogue.

The joint venture comes after Elbit in August last year inked a five-year $1.64 billion defense contract with Serbia for the supply of its long-range precision strike artillery-rocket systems and AI-powered unmanned aerial vehicles, including personally operated drones for tactical and operational use.

The contract also includes defense products equipped with Elbit’s advanced intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance, known as ISTAR, as well as communications and signal intelligence systems, and advanced electro-optical and night-vision systems.
IAEA set to remove nuclear material from Syrian site in US brokered deal
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is set to remove nuclear material from a clandestine Syrian site following an agreement made by the US, Syria, and Israel, Axios reported on Monday, citing Israeli and US officials.

The Trump administration and IAEA scrambled to reach the agreement that would secure the material and prevent a potential escalation between Israel, Syria, and Turkey, said Axios, adding that the site in question is sensitive.

The agreement validates US President Donald Trump’s approach towards Syria and shows that his administration is utilizing close relations with Syria to neutralize a possible crisis, according to the report.

Effort was kept secret
An exchange of threats and diplomatic correspondence occured throughout months until a resolution was reached a few weeks ago, said Axios. The efforts had since been kept secret and unreported.

According to Axios, the regime of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad had developed the secret nuclear program around the al-Kibar reactor, a plutonium production facility built with the help of North Korea in the Deir Ezzor region of northeastern Syria.

Following Assad’s fall, the IAEA signed an agreement with the country’s newly installed government to visit the reactor and several other nuclear sites, the report said.

Axios said Israel has been closely monitoring Syria’s nuclear facilities, particularly a site called “Site 99,” which US officials claim held residue from al-Kibar.


The Missing Context of Bibas Family Captor Terrorist Group in Mass Funeral Coverage
Last week, at least 45 news articles covered the August 4 funerals of the Abu Sharia and Al-Hasayna families, but there was no mention that some of those killed in the November 2023 incident were leaders of the terrorist organization that held Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas in captivity.

One hundred and twelve people were buried in a service on Tuesday according to Reuters, reportedly the victims of a November 22, 2023 airstrike on family compounds. Over 300 people were killed in the strike according to Gazan authorities, though contemporary Arabic media reports detailed 93 deaths. Services were held for 112 recovered bodies.

The funeral services for the 112 people were led by the Mujahideen Movement, according to a Tuesday Telegram post by the terrorist organization.

The Mujahideen are closely connected to the Abu Sharia family, which Reuters reported was part of the extended Al-Hasayna family. The Mujahideen Movement and its armed Brigades were founded and led by members of the Abu Sharia family.

Mujahideen Terrorists Amid the Casualties
Among the Abu Sharia’s casualties from the Sabra neighborhood incident was Muhammad Shahada Abu Sharia, the “intellectual founder” of the Mujahideen Movement. His two sons, Sami and Nader, were terrorist commanders killed in 2006 and 2014, respectively. He lost further family members in the incident.

Bassam Atiya Abu Sharia, brother of the Movement’s leader As’ad Abu Sharia, was also killed in the incident with his family. Bassam was listed as a “founding martyr” in a poster of deceased leaders published in April by the Mujahideen.

Khaled Mohammed Ibrahim Abu Sharia, who according to family Facebook group posts was killed on the same date as the others, was photographed in a military uniform.

Also among the casualties were the families of Mujahideen commander Ahmad Abu Sharia and Movement secretary-general As’ad Abu Sharia.

“The martyrdom of my family and a large number of the elders of my family, the mujahid [holy warrior] Abu Sharia family, and all the pure blood of our people that was shed in this battle is the fuel of victory and will only increase our determination to achieve our goal and our resolve to destroy the fascist, Nazi, corrupt Zionist entity on this land,” As’ad Abu Sharia said in a November 23, 2023 statement.

Mujahideen and Holding Bibas Family Hostage
Both As’ad and Ahmad Abu Sharia were killed in a June 7, 2025 airstrike. The airstrike was conducted in response to the involvement of the Mujahideen leaders in the kidnapping of members of the Bibas family.

The Mujahideen Movement held the Shiri Bibas and her children hostage following the October 7 Massacre. Shiri, 4-year-old Ariel, and 9-month-old Kfir were abducted from their home in Nir Oz. While in captivity, the terrorists murdered the Bibas children with their bare hands, then desecrated the bodies to hide what they did. The bodies were held for ransom, denied burial until Israel released terrorists in a trade. Their bodies were repatriated last February in exchange for a ransom of imprisoned terrorists, but not before their bodies were paraded around in coffins as part of a triumphant Hamas ceremony. Terrorists and their supporters cheered as the coffins were displayed in a signing ceremony. Shiri was not returned to Israel with her boys, and instead Israeli authorities were given an unidentified woman’s body. It was only later that month that her body was returned.





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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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