Thursday, August 20, 2026

08/19 Links Pt1: The ghouls feeding on Hind Rajab’s death; Elliott Abrams: Kushner Legitimizes Hamas; To Palestinians and their supporters: How’s the resistance going?

From Ian:

To Palestinians and their supporters: How’s the resistance going?
This is not a hostile or inconsiderate question. It is perhaps the most important question anyone who actually cares about Palestinians could ask. The resistance strategy—violent, stubborn and uncompromising—has been one of history’s most expensive strategic failures. Yet it continues, sustained in part by a global industry whose financial survival depends on it never ending.

Since 1993, more than $50 billion in international aid has flowed to the Palestinian cause. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has received billions since it was founded in 1949, with the United States alone providing more than $7.3 billion from 1950 to 2016. Private charities devoted to Palestinian relief collectively raise hundreds of millions more annually. There are now thousands of careers, institutions and funding streams whose existence depends on the Palestinian crisis remaining unresolved.

When a problem becomes an industry, the incentive is not to solve it but to sustain it. Who loses their funding when Palestinian refugees are finally settled and integrated? What happens to UNRWA if there are no longer any refugees?

Do the people who most loudly claim to speak for Palestinians actually serve Palestinian interests or do they serve their own? The people most loudly advocating for the Palestinians are frequently the ones with the most to lose from a peaceful, prosperous Palestinian society that no longer requires their services.

What would it look like for Palestinians to succeed? Not in the sense of defeating Israel, but in the sense of their people living well?

Hong Kong, Taiwan and Estonia, among other countries surrounded by hostile neighbors, built prosperity not through military resistance but through trade, rule of law, open markets and human capital development.

What if Palestinian leadership had, at any point, decided that the primary measure of their success is the economic well-being, education and individual freedom of their people? What if, instead of funneling resources into armed factions and international lobbying campaigns, they had built transparent institutions, embraced civil liberties, cultivated a tech sector and made the present Palestinian enclaves a destination for investment? In other words, what if they actually built a vibrant country?

At least one person is trying this by creating a technology hub in Judea and Samaria. Rawabi, the planned Palestinian city developed by entrepreneur Bashar al-Masri, is a tentative proof of concept. It has faced enormous obstacles, many of them political. But it is at least an attempt at a different strategy, and it points toward a different kind of future.

The definition of strategic failure is not losing a single battle. It is pursuing the same approach, decade after decade, and watching it produce more destruction, more poverty, more displacement and more death than the alternatives you refused to consider. One definition of mental illness is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result each time.

The most radical thing that Palestinian leadership could do right now is not to launch another resistance campaign or fire rockets at Israel. It would be to announce, credibly, that henceforth it will measure success by the flourishing of its people; by school-enrollment rates; per capita income; startup formation; and the quality of hospitals, courts and roads.

The strategy of perpetual resistance has produced perpetual suffering. What if Palestinian leaders choose prosperity instead? That would indeed be revolutionary.
Andrew Fox: The ghouls feeding on Hind Rajab’s death
The IDF has opened a criminal investigation into the deaths of Hind Rajab and eight others. That is the entire development. No verdict is implied. The announcement identifies no suspect, nor does it specify an offence. Online carrion crows have turned Hind’s death into clickbait by stripping the news of its qualifications and selling an investigation as a verdict.

The IDF examination states that troops fired at the approaching family car on 29 January 2024. Five passengers were killed; Hind and her cousin Layan survived the encounter. Hours later, a Palestine Red Crescent ambulance, whose movement had been coordinated, went to recover them. The announcement describes the alleged shelling of that ambulance and records that the girls and two paramedics were later found dead. It does not establish what happened during the intervening hours.

Mark Zlochin’s close reading exposes the misrepresentation. The formal finding concerns the initial fire at the car. The later events remain reports and allegations. His earlier analysis raised unresolved questions about the route and timeline and tested whether the telephone material and available lines of sight supported more than one source of fire. Those questions do not resolve the deaths, and today’s announcement provides no new evidence of criminal guilt.

There is one awkward point for Israel’s defenders. The IDF’s first account said no troops were in the area. Its subsequent examination now acknowledges that troops fired at the car. That correction cannot be wished away, and anyone who repeated the first version should amend their view. The acknowledgement revises the official account of the initial encounter. Hind and Layan, it now says, survived the initial fire, while the ambulance strike and their later deaths remain under investigation. Criminal responsibility remains unresolved.

The carrion feeders have ignored that distinction. They demanded an investigation. The moment one was announced, they called it an admission. Their trick relies on readers confusing suspicion with conviction. They use a dead child for emotional force and borrow legal vocabulary to manufacture authority. Nobody has been charged. No court has tested individual liability in the Hind case or in the separate Tel al-Sultan referral. There is no legal conclusion in either case. For these people, the case is not about truth or justice for Hind Rajab: it is about validating their preconceptions about Israel no matter what.

The IDF’s Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism compiles operational material for the Military Advocate General. Reasonable suspicion triggers a military police investigation; prosecutors then assess whether the evidence offers a reasonable prospect of conviction. A referral records suspicion but supplies no answer. The suspected offence may involve negligence in following procedure. The announcement does not say.

I have always maintained that where credible evidence supports a war crime charge, it should be prosecuted. That remains my position. The World Central Kitchen case illustrates the distinction. Australia’s review by Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin found that the strike was not knowingly or deliberately directed against the charity. It recorded mistaken identification and failures to follow procedures. Binskin made no criminal finding. A catastrophic outcome can warrant criminal scrutiny without establishing deliberate murder.
Aviva Klompas: Iran was a regional threat. War with the US changed that
For years, Tehran’s influence rested on a network that gave it strategic depth. Hamas threatened Israel from Gaza. Hezbollah amassed an arsenal on Israel’s northern border, while serving as Iran’s most powerful regional proxy.

Syria provided the logistical bridge connecting Tehran to Lebanon and the Mediterranean. Iraqi militias extended Iranian influence westward while pressuring American forces. The Houthis gave Tehran a foothold on one of the world’s most important maritime choke points.

That network allowed Iran to keep its adversaries under pressure while minimizing risks to itself. Today, much of that architecture has been degraded.

Hamas remains in control of parts of Gaza, but much of its senior leadership has been killed, large portions of its military infrastructure have been destroyed, and its ability to rearm and reorganize has been sharply constrained by Israel’s operational presence in significant areas of the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah remains dangerous, yet it is no longer the force it was before the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. The group has also lost much of its senior leadership, including longtime Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, along with key commanders, weapons stockpile and infrastructure.

Hezbollah now faces growing pressure inside Lebanon from a population exhausted by economic collapse and increasingly unwilling to see the country’s future subordinated to Iran’s regional ambitions. The group still possesses formidable capabilities, but it is increasingly focused on preserving what remains rather than expanding its influence.

Syria may represent the most consequential loss. For decades, the Assad regime served as Iran’s indispensable ally and the critical land bridge connecting Tehran to Hezbollah. The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government and the emergence of a new political order have severely disrupted those supply lines and deprived Iran of one of the central pillars of its regional strategy.

In Iraq, Iranian-backed groups continue to wield considerable influence, but they operate in an environment that is increasingly complicated by Iraqi nationalism, domestic political pressures, and growing demands that armed groups answer to the Iraqi state rather than to Tehran.

Only the Houthis retain something approaching their previous freedom of action, continuing to threaten commercial shipping and disrupt maritime trade. Yet even there, Iran’s success reveals its limitations. The Houthis can create instability, but they cannot create regional order.

Iran is being forced to play defense
The result is that Iran increasingly finds itself doing something it spent decades trying to avoid: relying on its own territory and its own capabilities to sustain confrontation.

An equally important shift is taking place elsewhere in the region.

For years, many Arab governments concluded that accommodation was the safest response to Iranian aggression. After months of unrelenting attacks on their territory, that assumption is changing.

Bahrain and Kuwait have launched strikes inside Iran, Saudi forces have joined attacks on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates has reportedly provided intelligence and air cover. Persian Gulf states are also deepening cooperation on missile defense, intelligence sharing and maritime security.

In attacking its neighbors, Iran has pushed its adversaries closer together and closer to the United States.

Iran remains powerful, but less so than before
None of this means Iran is on the verge of collapse. Its missile program remains formidable. Its nuclear ambitions are a source of legitimate concern. Tehran retains the ability to disrupt global commerce, and it has repeatedly demonstrated that even a weakened network can impose real costs on other nations.

But there is an important distinction between the ability to disrupt and the ability to shape the regional order. For decades, Iran played offense. Today, it finds itself increasingly on defense.

That could prove to be the most consequential outcome of this war. Not the destruction of the axis of resistance, but the gradual unraveling of the network through which Iran projected power across the Middle East.

The ring of fire has not disappeared, but it has become a ring of embers.


JPost Editorial: Israel must investigate itself: IDF accountability strengthens the country
Investigating the IDF does not mean abandoning it
In wartime, there is a tendency to treat any examination of Israeli soldiers’ conduct as an attack on the soldiers themselves. That is wrong. Supporting the IDF does not require believing that every decision made by every soldier or commander was correct.

An army governed by law must be capable of determining when a mistake was understandable, when negligence occurred, and when a line was crossed.

That is particularly true for Israel, whose enemies and critics routinely accuse it of criminality. The answer to exaggerated or politically motivated accusations cannot be to insist that Israel is incapable of wrongdoing. The stronger answer is to show that Israel possesses institutions willing to examine credible allegations and act on the evidence.

That has international consequences. The International Criminal Court describes itself as a court of last resort, intended to complement rather than replace national courts.

A credible Israeli investigative system is not a concession to The Hague. It strengthens Israel’s case that allegations involving its forces should be examined independently by Israeli institutions.

Israeli investigations must also be timely
There is, however, a weakness in Wednesday’s announcement: it took too long.

Several incidents now being addressed occurred in late 2023 and early 2024. IDF legal officials acknowledge that decisions have been delayed. In the Hind Rajab case, the Post reported that none of the relevant COGAT officials had yet been criminally investigated.

That is a problem. Memories fade. Evidence becomes harder to establish. Public confidence erodes. An investigation that appears only years after an incident invites questions about whether accountability is being pursued with sufficient urgency.

Israel’s military justice system must be independent and careful. It must also be faster.

Accountability strengthens a democracy
The purpose of accountability is not to satisfy hostile governments, activist organizations, or international tribunals. Nor should soldiers operating under battlefield conditions be sacrificed to appease critics.

More basically, Israel should demand of itself the standards it says distinguish the IDF from the enemies it fights.

Some investigations will lead to prosecutions. Others will end in discipline. Some will conclude that no wrongdoing occurred. That is how a serious legal system works.

A democracy proves its strength not by claiming that its institutions never fail but by showing that they can confront failure when it occurs. The IDF’s new report is an overdue step in that direction. Accountability should become not an exceptional response delivered years later, but a timely and credible part of how Israel wages war under law.


IDF to open criminal inquiry into Gaza’s Hind Rajab case, closes probe of World Central Kitchen deaths
The Israeli military on Wednesday said criminal investigations would be opened into two prominent incidents of suspected war crimes by forces during the fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in recent years, while three other high-profile cases would be closed.

The incidents being investigated by the Military Police included the killing of 6-year-old Hind Rajab along with six of her family members and two medics in Gaza City in January 2024; and the killing of 15 rescue workers in a convoy of ambulances and emergency vehicles in Rafah in March 2025.

Meanwhile, the cases being closed included a deadly strike on a group of aid workers with the World Central Kitchen organization in the central Gaza Strip in April 2024; a strike on a building used by aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Khan Younis that killed two members in February 2024; and the deaths of another two MSF employees who were driving in a convoy in Gaza City in November 2023.

The high-level General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism, an independent military body responsible for investigating unusual incidents amid the war, has so far completed around 150 probes and handed over their details to the Military Advocate General, the IDF’s top legal body, for review. The MAG Corps then decides whether to open a criminal investigation and later file charges.

“Recently, legal decisions were made regarding five incidents that received public attention,” the military said in a statement. The MAG Corps dismissed three of these high-profile probes, but said the other should be investigated by the Military Police due to suspected criminal offenses.


Australia demands justice over Gaza aid worker deaths
Australia summoned Israel's ambassador on Thursday and expressed outrage at a decision by its military not to pursue criminal proceedings over the death of an Australian aid worker in a 2024 airstrike in Gaza.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had found no basis to investigate the killings of seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen charity, including Australian Zomi Frankcom, after a fact-finding and assessment procedure.

"This decision falls far short of the accountability we expect," Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, adding that Australia was outraged by the decision.

"Democracies seek, and accept higher standards. The Australian government will not stop pressing Israel for justice for Zomi and her colleagues."

In her statement, Wong said she had told Australia's envoy in Israel to convey its views directly to the Israeli government as Canberra considers its next steps.

No criminal responsibility established, Israeli envoy to Australia says
The attack drew widespread condemnation from the United States and several allies after citizens of Britain and Poland, as well as Palestinians and a dual US-Canadian citizen were among those killed.

The investigation had concluded there was no criminal liability for the soldiers involved in the attack, said Hillel Newman, Israel's ambassador to Australia, although there had been operational failures by the Israeli military.

"It was a mistake, in retrospect, but the findings of the court are that there was no criminal intention, no intention to hit at aid workers, and therefore no criminal responsibility," Newman told reporters in Canberra after meeting Wong.

Newman said the aid workers' convoy deviated from a pre-approved route and may have carried armed personnel, leading the Israeli military to believe it had been taken over by the Hamas terrorist group.


Elliott Abrams: Kushner Legitimizes Hamas
Kushner can of course defend the meeting by saying it was the only, or the very best, way forward to peace. But legitimizing and therefore strengthening terrorist groups is never the path to peace. Kushner could have delegated the meeting to a lower-ranking official. Or he could have made some tough demands up front and said al-Hayya would have to earn a meeting with the American representative (and the president’s son-in-law). The excuses for the meeting are simple to imagine, but none are persuasive. Al-Hayya is an old-timer and a survivor as a Hamas leader and is in that sense up to his neck in blood. He will not give Kushner concessions he would otherwise refuse, and he will never abandon Hamas’s goal of destroying Israel nor its commitment to violence to get there. He has already won the negotiation, because the real news is not the details of what was agreed (and is so unlikely to be carried out anyway); it is the fact of the meeting.

In April and in June President Trump sent his vice president to meet with Iranian representatives, in Pakistan and Switzerland. Nothing positive came of either meeting, despite Vance’s mentions of “great progress” and the possibility of a “new leaf.” It seems no lesson was learned, and the Kushner meeting with Hamas went forward. It is a far worse case than the Iran meetings, because for those meetings there were precedents (think of the many negotiations under Obama), and Iran is a country and a U.N. member state.

Would a refusal to meet with the leader of Hamas be standing on ceremony, or refusing to see reality? On the contrary it would be acknowledging the reality that Hamas is a murderous terror organization that has committed bestial massacres — and then celebrated them. The sad truth is that the Kushner meeting is a real victory for Hamas, which will use it to demand a larger role as a diplomatic and political presence in the Middle East. This is exactly what the United States should be against and should be preventing, not encouraging.

In June, the Jerusalem Post reported that a French delegation had held a “top secret” meeting with Hamas officials and that this meeting was “the first reported meeting of Hamas leaders with European officials since the October 7 massacre.” Those days are over, thanks to Kushner. Count on seeing many more such meetings now, all with plenty of publicity, and all resulting in the increasing legitimization of the murderers of October 7.
Trump declares 'Economic D-Day' against Iran, promises consequences to any country providing aid
US President Donald Trump declared that the United States would be targeting Iran with "the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country" in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.

"This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY," Trump announced, adding that the US needed all its allies to aid in isolating Iran.

Trump also announced that any country which provided aid to Iran would face "TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences."

"Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies - It all needs to stop NOW," Trump wrote. "You know who you are."

Trump also described Iran as "maniacs" who were "on the ropes."

"These HISTORIC MEASURES will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide," he stated, adding, "IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON."

Kushnersays US-Iran negotiations have yet to reach understanding
On Monday, Trump's envoy Jared Kushner told Fox News that conversations between the US and different areas of the Iranian government were probably more robust than ever, but the two sides had not yet reached an understanding.

"Trump doesn't want to rush into a deal, he'll make the right deal when it's ready," Kushner said.

Kushner also said that Trump was placing an emphasis on economic pressure over military actions, focusing on the blockade of Iran which had left the Iranian economy "way worse off now."


Ben-Gvir’s gallows spectacle gives Israel’s enemies ammunition- comment
Election campaigns do not bring out the better angels of our nature. Just look at National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

On Tuesday, Ben-Gvir uploaded a video of a gallows being constructed in a maximum-security prison for Palestinian terrorists.

“I promised to worsen the conditions of terrorists in prisons – we kept it,” Ben-Gvir said in the macabre clip. “I promised to pass the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law – we did. And now the death row and hanging facility are also starting to take shape.”

Ben-Gvir said the facility would include viewing booths – just like those in the US – for the families of terror victims.

Reasonable people can debate whether Israel should have the death penalty for terrorists. Legislation pushed by Ben-Gvir to that effect passed the Knesset earlier this year. But reasonable people do not glorify executions, take public joy in them, or circulate videos of gallows under construction.

Ben-Gvir's celebration of the death penalty
Ben-Gvir has repeatedly crossed the line between advocating capital punishment and celebrating it.

He wore a gallows pin to promote the death penalty legislation, cracked open champagne bottles when it passed, and received a birthday cake from his wife with a gallows depicted in the frosting. The video was the latest appeal to a political base he apparently believes finds this type of imagery appealing.

Nor was this an isolated incident.

Just days earlier, Ben-Gvir appeared on former hostage Rom Braslavski’s podcast. When Braslavski said he wanted to execute captured terrorists with his own hands, Ben-Gvir replied that seeing him do so was “one of my greatest dreams.”

That exchange, coming just days before the gallows video, showed what this was about. This is not a sober argument for capital punishment as a deterrent or an instrument of justice. It is the public celebration of death, a reveling in revenge.

Beyond the grotesque and un-Jewish spectacle of taking public delight in executions, what is the problem?

The problem is that it is not only Ben-Gvir’s base watching these videos. So is the rest of the world. And many decent people – not antisemites or rabid anti-Zionists – must be asking: What has gotten into Israel? How can a liberal democracy engage in this Iran-style glorification of hangings?
US to provide $206 million for Gaza peacekeeping force, letters show
US President Donald Trump’s administration has told Congress it is sending more than $206 million for a proposed Gaza peacekeeping force, the first significant funding for Washington’s stalled plan to rebuild the devastated enclave.

In two July 30-dated notifications seen by Reuters, the State Department informed Congress it will provide $200 million for the International Stabilization Force’s (ISF) equipment, infrastructure, vehicles and operational costs. An additional $6 million would repurpose US armored vehicles to support the force.

The notifications, which were addressed to key appropriations and foreign affairs committees in Congress, have not been previously reported.

The funding is the first concrete US spending on the peacekeeping force and signals the administration’s determination to press ahead with Trump’s Gaza roadmap even as both Israel and Hamas have balked at conditions needed to advance the plan.

“The ISF will lead security operations, support comprehensive demilitarization, and enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and reconstruction material to Gaza,” one of the notifications says, while noting the final composition of the force was still being negotiated.

The administration has not said how much money will ultimately be needed to fund the force.

Trump set up a Board of Peace to oversee his ambitious plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza and rebuild the shattered territory. His plan envisioned that the peacekeeping force would deploy to Gaza to secure areas after Israeli forces withdraw and would train new Palestinian police forces, support aid deliveries and assist with Hamas’s disarmament.

Much of Gaza remains ​in ruins from two years of war triggered by the Hamas-led atrocities in Israel on October 7, 2023.

While Hamas agreed to the Board of Peace’s disarmament plan on July 30, the effort has stalled amid Israel’s rejection of the plan.
‘Don’t’: Netanyahu says he warned Turkey before Israel struck Syrian base
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted on Wednesday that Israel had already warned Turkey against any military activity in Syria before Israel bombed an airbase that Ankara had been eyeing, while sources told Reuters that the Mossad chief discussed the issue last week with the Syrian foreign minister.

Speaking in a podcast interview a day after Israel struck a military airbase in northwest Syria, Netanyahu said that Israel will not tolerate a Turkish military buildup “that descends south because it threatens us.”

Warning Turkey against such military activity in Syria, Netanyahu simply said “Don’t,” in English.

“The message was conveyed but apparently they didn’t hear it, so we made sure they understood it more clearly,” he added.

Meanwhile, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday that Mossad chief Roman Gofman held a phone call last week with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in which they discussed Turkey’s military presence in Syria.

The call, which the sources said took place on August 14, marks one of the highest-level contacts yet between Israel and the new Syrian government since the fall of former dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Both Turkey and Syria reacted angrily to the airstrike, which Damascus said caused material damage but no casualties. The strike was also condemned by US Ambassador Tom Barrack, who called it an “unnecessary escalation.”
Ankara rejects Israeli ‘allegations’ on airbase, but Syrian officials confirm Turkish visit
Turkey firmly rejected on Wednesday what it called “untenable allegations” by Israel regarding its military position in Syria, after Israel bombed a Syrian airbase near the Turkish border and said Syria was on the verge of permitting Turkish troops to deploy there.

But Syrian officials admitted Wednesday that Turkish officials had visited the base in question a day before the Israeli strikes, while the IDF chief said in a visit to Syria that Israel would not allow “hostile forces” along its borders.

Israel struck the Abu al-Duhur base near Aleppo on Tuesday, drawing condemnation from Turkey and criticism from US Ambassador Tom Barrack, who called the attack an “unnecessary escalation.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused Syria late Tuesday of being on the verge of violating a “status quo agreed with Israel in security matters” by allowing Turkish troops to deploy at the airbase, adding that such a deployment would threaten Israel’s security.

In response, Turkey’s presidency said Wednesday that the “imputations” from Netanyahu’s office stemmed from his intention to pursue “expansionist and destabilizing policies” ahead of the upcoming national election in Israel, adding that lasting regional peace could only be achieved if Israel respected international law and abandoned its “aggressive and coercive policies.”

“The untenable allegations put forward by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office are intended to legitimize Israel’s unlawful airstrikes targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it said on X, without explicitly referring to any potential deployment plans.

“Turkey will resolutely continue to cooperate with the Syrian Government on a legitimate basis for the establishment of peace, stability, and prosperity in Syria, and will never allow the destabilization of Syria.”

Turkish media outlets also reacted harshly to the Israeli strike and accusations, accusing Jerusalem of fomenting conflict.

The daily newspaper Takvim asserted Tuesday that Israel “is experiencing hysterical panic attacks” after the recent defense pact signed between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, declaring in a separate headline that “Turkey is the Zionists’ target.”

The front page of the Turkiye daily newspaper called the strike a “major provocation from Israel,” while a separate headline claimed that a recent phone call between US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “drove ‘genocidal Israel’ crazy.”


At least 10 said killed in Gaza airstrikes that Israel says targeted Hamas commanders
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday killed at least 10 people and wounded 15, according to Palestinian media, with the IDF saying the airstrikes targeted Hamas operatives.

The first strike, in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, targeted a Hamas company commander who invaded Israel on October 7, according to the military. Palestinian media reported that one person riding a motorcycle was killed in that strike.

Less than half an hour later, the military struck a police station in Gaza City, killing nine people — including a 13-year-old girl — and wounding 15, according to Palestinian media.

The target of that strike was a Hamas commander and several other operatives who were alongside him, the army said. The IDF asserted that the terror operatives had planned to carry out attacks on Israeli troops operating in the Strip, justifying the strikes amid the ceasefire.

Later Wednesday, the IDF said that at least four Hamas operatives and a member of a smaller terror group were present at the police station in order to advance attacks on troops stationed in the Strip.

“At the time of the strike, at least four terrorists from the military wing of the Hamas terror group and a terrorist from the Popular Resistance Committees terror organization were present,” the military said, adding that it will provide an update on the strike once the results are clear.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem condemned what he called Israel’s “complete disregard for all calls for a ceasefire.”

Qassem said US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace “bears responsibility for this escalation due to its failure to fulfill its obligations by pressuring the occupation” — how Hamas refers to Israel — to abide by its commitments.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, US envoy Jared Kushner pressed the Israeli premier to hold back on its targeted airstrikes on Hamas commanders in Gaza, a request Netanyahu rejected, according to an official present at the sit-down.

Wednesday’s strikes came a day after another unusually deadly Israeli strike in Gaza, with the IDF saying it had targeted a meeting of Hamas commanders and elite operatives in Gaza City in an attack that the Hamas-run civil defense agency killed six and wounded 14.


Commentary Podcast: Riyadh Politik
FDD's Jonathan Schanzer joins us on this week-long series of interviews for our upcoming September print issue to discuss his article on the two paths that lay before Saudi Arabia - a pro-American route, and a darker alternative.


UKLFI: Natasha Hausdorff on unravelling Gaza starvation claims & misinformation about the West Bank
International lawyer, Natasha Hausdorff, joins Laura Cellier of the Misgav Institute on the Israel in Ten briefing to discuss the serious doubt that UNICEF figures have cast on claims that Israel has deliberately starved children in Gaza.

Natasha explains the impact this has on the case against Netanyahu and Gallant in the International Criminal Court, where the alleged use of starvation as a weapon of war was the central charge on which arrest warrants were obtained.

Natasha also describes serious misinformation circulated by the UN regarding the situation in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and other subject

Natasha Hausdorff is a barrister based in London, Legal Director of UKLFI Charitable Trust and President of the Center for the International Rule of Law (CIROL).




UK to announce new measures targeting Israeli settlement expansion within weeks, Miliband confirms
Ed Miliband has confirmed that the UK will announce new measures aimed at targeting illegal Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank “within weeks”.

In a statement, the Foreign Secretary described the Israeli Government’s publication of a tender for the E1 West Bank settlement project as “an unacceptable and destructive act”.

Responding to the news that Israel has opened up tenders for the construction of some 1,200 settlement homes on the so-called E1 area east of Jerusalem, Miliband said the plans “would cut across the heart of Palestine and risk separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem, which would endanger the viability of a two-state solution.”

He then confirmed: “In the coming weeks we will set out a comprehensive set of measures to respond to Israeli government policies, protect the viability of the Palestinian state, target sanctions at those who participate in illegal settlement expansion and support a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians.”

Miliband said the UK has been clear privately and publicly in our opposition to E1 and that he had spoken with the Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, insisting the Israeli Government must halt E1 plans immediately, retract the tender and stop all settlement expansion.

A statement also confirmed the Israeli Chargé d’Affaires has been summoned to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, “where we set out the UK’s profound objection to this move by the Netanyahu government and demanded an immediate reversal.”


Anti-Israel journalist sues Homeland Security over seizure of phones upon return from Iran
American journalist Max Blumenthal sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, alleging that customs officers unlawfully seized his two smartphones at Washington Dulles International Airport after he returned from Iran, where he had traveled to cover the funeral of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee filed the complaint on Blumenthal’s behalf on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The lawsuit names DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, CBP Commissioner Rodney S. Scott and Acting CBP Deputy Commissioner Ronald D. Vitiello as defendants.

Blumenthal traveled to Iran on a press visa to report for The Grayzone on Khamenei’s funeral and the aftermath of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, according to the ADC. On July 10, CBP officers detained him for about two and a half hours after he arrived at Dulles, questioned him about his journalism and travel, and asked him to unlock his phones. When he refused, officers seized the devices and told him they would be connected to machines to extract their data.

“Everyone seeking to enter the U.S. is subject to inspection by CBP officers,” a CBP spokesperson told JNS. “During the inspection process, CBP officers review all available information, including criminal history, immigration history, travel history and other relevant information.”

CBP’s public guidance says officers may conduct electronic-device searches during the border-inspection process. The agency distinguishes between basic searches, in which officers examine information stored on a device, and advanced searches, which involve connecting external equipment to the device. CBP reported that more than 4,500 international travelers underwent advanced electronic-device searches during the first three quarters of fiscal year 2026.

On July 5, Blumenthal wrote on social media that he had “just visited the largest funeral in history, where millions mourned Sayyed Ali Khamenei, the Iranian leader who was assassinated by the U.S.-Israeli coalition along with members of his family.” He additionally referred to the assassination of Khamenei as a “crime.”





Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

Reclaiming the Covenant on America's 250th (May 2026)

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    

 

 



AddToAny

Printfriendly

EoZTV Podcast

Podcast URL

Subscribe in podnovaSubscribe with FeedlyAdd to netvibes
addtomyyahoo4Subscribe with SubToMe

search eoz

comments

Speaking

Speaking

translate

E-Book

For $18 donation








Sample Text

EoZ's Most Popular Posts in recent years

Search2

Hasbys!

Hasbys!

2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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

Donate!

Donate to fight for Israel!

Monthly subscription:
Payment options


One time donation:

Follow EoZ on Twitter!

Interesting Blogs

Show All

Blog Archive

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