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Wednesday, August 26, 2026

08/25 Links Pt1: The Undisputed Answer to Israel's Legitimacy; A Realistic National Strategy for Israel; PA Schools Glorify Oct 7 in Disturbing New Footage; Israel evacuates UNRWA compound in Jerusalem

From Ian:

The Undisputed Answer to Israel's Legitimacy
I am an Arab Muslim and have spent years advocating for peace and reconciliation between Muslims and Jews. I have never understood why acknowledging the ancient Jewish connection to this land should be considered threatening to Muslims. The Dead Sea Scrolls are one example that demolishes the claim that Jewish attachment to the land is a recent political invention created by Europeans in the 19th or 20th centuries.

The ancient manuscripts found in caves near the Dead Sea were written by Jews living in this region more than 2,000 years ago. I do not see something that belongs to a civilization completely foreign to me. I see part of the religious and historical landscape from which Christianity emerged and which Islam itself repeatedly acknowledges. This is why I believe Muslims should be among the last people to deny ancient Jewish history.

The Quran is filled with the history of the Children of Israel. Moses is mentioned more frequently in the Quran than any other prophet. The Quran speaks of King David, Solomon, Aaron, Joseph and the tribes of Israel. It acknowledges the Torah and repeatedly places its own religious message in conversation with earlier Jewish and Christian traditions. There is therefore something deeply strange, in my view, about some Muslims feeling that we must erase Jewish history in order to defend Arab or Palestinian rights.

Peace will never be built by creating historical amnesia. For decades, political arguments surrounding Israel have frequently attempted to deny Jewish history altogether, pretending that a nation did not exist on its ancestral homeland. The Dead Sea Scrolls tell us that Jewish communities lived in this land, developed religious institutions in this land, and debated the meaning of their faith in this land centuries before Islam appeared and centuries before modern European nationalism existed.

History cannot become something we recognize only when it supports our political position. If archaeology proves something uncomfortable, we should not destroy the archaeology. We should adjust our understanding. For Muslims in particular, recognizing the Jewish people's ancient connection to this land should not frighten us. It does not diminish Islam. It simply requires intellectual honesty.
Prof. Efraim Inbar: A Realistic National Strategy for Israel
Israel remains small in both territory and population compared to most of its Middle Eastern rivals, and despite its economic prosperity, its resources remain limited. Its long-term survival cannot be taken for granted. Israel must therefore maintain constant readiness for armed conflict and for the battle over its legitimacy.

Any state must align its goals with the resources at its disposal and avoid overreach. Unlike a great power, a small state cannot set the rules of the international system or significantly shape its regional environment. David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, understood that military power alone could not compel Israel's neighbors to make peace. Israel could build an "iron wall" (a concept coined by his political rival Ze'ev Jabotinsky) that would thwart its neighbors' plans to destroy it, in the hope that over time, the states of the region would come to accept it.

The military achievements against Hamas in Gaza and Hizbullah in Lebanon, the establishment of security zones in Syria and in Lebanon, and the attacks on Iran's nuclear and missile infrastructure in 2025 and 2026 have undoubtedly improved Israel's security situation and regional standing. Israel demonstrated exceptional military and intelligence capabilities and exacted a heavy price from its enemies.

Yet military victories are time-bound in their political effects, and the motivation to challenge Israel's existence has remained persistently high. There is limited basis for assuming that even severe military defeat necessarily erodes an adversary's willingness to pursue long-term strategic objectives.

The main assumption behind Israel's national strategy should remain, regrettably, that the Middle East does not change quickly. The region remains a source of religious extremism, terrorism, and nuclear proliferation. Israel continues to lack legitimacy in much of the Arab and Muslim worlds. Israel's improved regional standing resulted from recognition of Israeli military power rather than from a fundamental shift in public attitudes.

Israel cannot subdue Iran, a nation of 90 million people led by an Islamic clerical elite that is relatively insensitive to the costs of sustained confrontation. Israel can, however, significantly degrade Iran's capacity to inflict harm upon it. Hamas and Hizbullah also cannot be decisively defeated so long as they retain substantial popular support and continue to receive state backing for military development and funding.

Israel has not succeeded in disarming Hamas in Judea and Samaria, where it has maintained military control since 1967. These organizations can be weakened, and their operational capabilities significantly reduced, but they cannot be fully eliminated as long as they retain mass domestic support and receive substantial external assistance.

When no attainable political solution is in sight, the most realistic goal becomes the denial of enemy capabilities and objectives. Israeli military operations are designed precisely to prevent the other side from achieving its strategic aims.
Amb. Alan Baker: The Penchant for Blaming Israel and Jews for Everything
There is something deeply troubling about the manner in which Israel and the Jewish people have once again become the focus of an extraordinary campaign of political condemnation, public vilification, and international hostility. Public figures feel able to malign Israel and Jews in sweeping, inflammatory and often baseless terms - and to do so with the apparent confidence that social media will provide them with millions of receptive followers. Hostility toward Israel and Jews has become socially acceptable, politically advantageous, and increasingly immune from serious scrutiny.

In Europe, when governments and political leaders in Ireland, Spain, Canada, Australia, and Britain appear willing to embrace, or lend credence to, false allegations of genocide and deliberate starvation against Israel and its leaders without the factual and legal basis for such allegations, one must ask whether European governments have become incapable, or unwilling, to resist politically motivated campaigns against Israel.

Many Western governments have historically sponsored, financed, and supported the Oslo process and subsequent Israeli-Palestinian agreements. Those agreements created reciprocal obligations and were intended to provide the legal and political framework for resolving outstanding issues through negotiation. Yet when states that helped create and endorse that framework subsequently support initiatives that bypass, weaken, or undermine its fundamental commitments, the credibility of their own diplomatic guarantees is inevitably called into question.

One must therefore ask: what confidence can Israel, or any state, place in international assurances concerning future agreements if the states providing those assurances are themselves prepared to disregard or circumvent the commitments embodied in existing agreements? The issue is whether fundamental principles of international relations and treaty commitments are to be respected.

Israel appears repeatedly to be treated as an exceptional case: subjected to an extraordinary level of international scrutiny, condemnation and political pressure. Legitimate criticism is an essential component of democratic discourse. But criticism becomes something entirely different when it is selective, disproportionate, detached from facts, or based upon standards that are not applied consistently to other states and peoples.


'Open Your Door, We Are Death': Palestinian Authority Schools Glorify Oct 7 in Disturbing New Footage as West Bank Government Angles for Power in Gaza
Palestinian Authority-run schools in the West Bank are glorifying Hamas's Oct. 7 terror spree, using the Israeli death toll to teach third graders math lessons and hosting school-wide assemblies where children publicly commit to "cool the fire in our heart with the body parts and screams of soldiers," among many other such examples, according to a new investigation obtained exclusively by the Washington Free Beacon.

The celebration of Oct. 7 inside these primary and secondary schools, reported here for the first time, is fueling fresh concerns at the State Department about the fledgling PA's fitness to govern in the Gaza Strip as it jockeys for a central role in President Donald Trump's reconstruction plan. Multiple U.S. officials confirmed to the Free Beacon that the PA is violating promises to end terror incitement, potentially disqualifying it from overseeing Gaza schools, where for years Hamas has taught children to hate Israel and Jews.

The PA's schools have long been notorious for exposing schoolchildren to virulently anti-Israel as well as antisemitic ideology. But antisemitic indoctrination in the West Bank has soared to new levels following Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, which is now being routinely glorified by PA schools and worked into children's lessons, including into completely unrelated subjects such as math.

The new investigation—assembled through pictures, videos, and documentation unearthed by the Israeli research institute Palestinian Media Watch (PMW)—reveals how PA schools integrated Oct. 7 into its lesson plans and celebrated Oct. 7 through organized school-wide ceremonies where children recited poems praising the Hamas fighters who raped, tortured, and murdered more than 1,200 Israelis.

The math curriculum at one PA school, for instance, bizarrely uses the Oct. 7 attacks to teach nine-year-old children basic arithmetic skills.

"Multiplication exercise: The [Oct. 7] Al-Aqsa Flood: At least 150 Israelis were killed in one day. What was the number killed in nine days? Solution: 9 X 150 = 1,350 killed," states one math problem from the Al-Kuwait Co-ed Elementary School run by the PA. "May Allah protect you! Excellent!" the teacher responded on the child's worksheet.

In another math problem, the question states: "[Hamas'] Al-Qassam Brigades sent 150 Jihad fighters to [each of] nine settlements (i.e., Jewish towns) in Israel. How many Jihad fighters entered [all] the settlements?" After the child provided the correct answer, the teacher wrote, "May Allah protect you. Champion! Victory to the residents of Gaza!"

Other questions center around the number of "martyrs" killed in Gaza: "At least 150 Martyrs were killed in Gaza in one day. How many were killed in nine days?" The child's correct answer again prompted the teacher to write: "Excellent! Champion! Our blessings be fulfilled! Mercy and forgiveness to our Martyrs!"

At least 11 PA schools held assemblies shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks that featured "readings and posters celebrating Oct. 7, referring to the murder, the blood, the death, and the torture," according to PMW's report.

In one, a young, keffiyeh-clad girl from the Kharas Girls' Elementary School in Hebron describes how waking up on Oct. 7 was "a beautiful dream."

"That day went down in history... We woke up to the sounds of laughter. There are those among us who thought they were dreaming, but it is a beautiful dream that they never want to wake up from," she says. "On Saturday [October 7], the people who resist returned to their land ... It was impossible to express the emotions in our hearts, and we never imagined such pride in our people on our faces. The sense of honor that we felt is indescribable."


Trump sends Saudi civil nuclear deal to Congress, maintains that recognition of Israel is necessary
US President Donald Trump has sent Congress a proposed agreement with Saudi Arabia on civil nuclear energy while insisting the pact will only be approved if the kingdom normalizes relations with Israel, a US administration official told Reuters on Tuesday.

The agreement, which was reached in July and would allow US companies to export civilian nuclear technology to the kingdom, was sent to Congress on Monday, according to the US official, who declined to be identified.

The Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was unclear how Trump expects sending the nuclear deal to Congress, which has 90 session days to consider it, to advance his objectives.

"The president's position has not changed that the agreement will only move forward if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords," the US official said in an email, referring to US-brokered agreements between Israel and Arab and Muslim-majority nations to normalize relations.

Those accords, reached in 2020 and 2021, were between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

Days after agreeing to the Saudi nuclear deal in July, Trump, who worked on a similar pact during his first term, set normalization as a condition for it to go into effect.

Former president ​Joe Biden also pushed for a nuclear deal and wanted to tie it to the accords. Diplomats thought Riyadh was close to normalizing relations with Israel in 2023, but the start of the Israel-Hamas War in October 2023 changed the landscape.

Saudi Arabia has demanded an irreversible path to a Palestinian state before ​recognizing Israel.

The 30-year nuclear deal calls for the construction of AP1000 reactors, a project worth tens of billions of dollars that would benefit Westinghouse, jointly owned by Canada-based Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management.

The deal was sent to leaders in Congress and is expected to be handed to committees on Wednesday, two congressional sources said. Unless Congress objects to the deal within 90 session days, it will go into force. If Congress were to reject the agreement, Trump could veto that decision, which would require a two-thirds majority in Congress to override.
Mossad Chief, Syrian Foreign Minister Hold Positive De-escalation Talks after Israeli Airstrike
Israel's Mossad chief Roman Gofman and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met on Sunday in Jordan to defuse tensions after Israel's strike last week on a Syrian airbase. They discussed establishing "a special operations room" in Jordan under U.S. supervision to prevent any confrontation in Syria, including involving Turkey, AFP reported.

Israel's Channel 12 reported that the meeting was positive and was considered a step toward restarting direct Jerusalem-Damascus negotiations. An Israeli security source said Jerusalem has set a number of red lines for such talks, including not allowing any Turkish military activity in Syria; keeping the Syrian side of the Golan Heights a demilitarized zone; not allowing the Syrian army to possess strategic weapons; ensuring the security of Syria's Druze community; and only withdrawing Israeli troops from the buffer zone in Syria in exchange for diplomatic achievements.

Channel 12 also reported Sunday that Israel has recently identified an increase in Hizbullah's attempts to smuggle weapons from Syria into Lebanon. While the Syrian and Lebanese armies have publicized several weapons seizures over recent months, an Israeli security official said: "We assess that many shipments are getting through without being detected."
Trump Finally Has the Upper Hand in Iran
President Donald Trump is now trying to break Iran's regime with the "single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary," in the words of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The U.S. navy is currently mounting a total blockade of Iran's ports, designed to sever the regime's financial lifeline.

At the same time, American warships are guiding tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, hugging the coast of Oman. Although they were still running the gauntlet of regular Iranian drone attacks, ships carrying about five million barrels of oil transited the strait every day in July, according to Windward, a maritime intelligence company. Since then, the number making it through seems to have risen.

The crucial point is that America has, for the moment, succeeded in wrecking a highly successful Iranian strategy, whereby the Islamic Republic would export its own oil safely while closing the strait to everyone else. Having exhausted every alternative, Trump has at last embarked on a ruthlessly effective strategy with a chance of delivering.
WaPo Editorial: An Iran Containment Strategy Takes Shape
After six months of on-again, off-again bombing in Iran, punctuated by futile efforts to negotiate a grand bargain with the regime, President Donald Trump is returning to the more defensible strategy of economic containment.

The Trump administration has decided to squeeze the mullahs by cutting them off from the rest of the world. On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened secondary sanctions on foreign individuals, corporations and financial institutions that continue to do business with Tehran.

Even if the administration succeeds in sharply constricting Iranian exports, Trump needs to be realistic about what this can accomplish. Ratcheting up pressure appears extremely unlikely to compel the hard-liners of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to surrender. Sanctions have a poor record when it comes to hastening regime change. Comprehensive enforcement is elusive, and Iran is a practiced evader.

The immediate goal of a policy of containment is to make an already battered Iran weaker so that it's less capable of threatening its neighbors and developing nuclear weapons. As the vise tightens, Tehran's new leaders will probably lash out militarily. Trump will need to respond forcefully to such attacks.
Turkey's Quiet Takeover inside Syria
A source in western Syria said Turkey's footprint in the region has grown significantly more pronounced, particularly in the port cities of Latakia and Tartus.

"Officials representing Turkish intelligence and the Turkish military are playing in Syria as if it were their private playground," the Syrian source revealed.

"This manifests in Turkish vehicles - some of which are armored - that soldiers are using to move around on the roads."

Syrian agents have been brokering real estate deals in the residential districts of the two cities on behalf of Turkish businessmen.

Footage broadcast in July 2026 by the Qatari network Al-Araby revealed a convoy of Turkish military trucks and armored vehicles advancing toward Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Turkish forces have actively fortified their footprint, surrounding bases with concrete blast walls, defensive trenches, and earthen berms.

Turkish National Defense Ministry Spokesman Zeki Akturk announced on July 16 that Turkish Naval Forces commander Ercument Tathoglu had visited Latakia alongside a flotilla of warships, the first time Turkish naval vessels had docked there in 15 years.
Turkey Halted Plans to Expand Its Military Presence in Syria after Israeli Airstrike
"Turkey understood the message and stopped the move - but it is unclear for how long," a senior Israeli official said Monday, a week after an Israeli airstrike on the Abu al-Duhur airbase near Idlib in Syria.

After diplomatic efforts failed to prevent Ankara's attempt to establish a presence in the area, which he described as a "red line," the decision to strike was made with the full backing of the military echelon.

The official said Ankara sought "real and significant things that must not be there," because they could restrict Israel's freedom of action and create a precedent for such a Turkish presence in Syria.

He stressed that Israel cannot allow the new Syria to build military capabilities that could endanger it.
Iran’s Strait of Hormuz leverage is fading as global oil keeps flowing
The main economic flash point in the US campaign against Iran has been the Strait of Hormuz, which carried roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day before the war. That choke point no longer dominates the global energy market the way many feared it would.

According to US government figures, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the other Gulf states can now move about 15-16 million barrels per day. Roughly 10 million leave on tankers through the strait itself, often under US naval protection and sometimes with transponders off, so the true volume likely exceeds what public maritime tracking shows. Another 5-6 million barrels move by air and, more significantly, through pipelines built or expanded since the war began.

Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline now transfers 7 million barrels a day, much of it reaching the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The UAE’s Habshan-Fujairah line, which empties into the Gulf of Oman outside the strait, is running near its ceiling of 1.5-1.8 million barrels a day, with a parallel line planned to expand it further.

These routes, plus limited trucking and other workarounds, haven’t fully replaced prewar volumes, but they’ve offset much of the loss. The bottom line is undeniable: Oil is still leaving the Gulf in large quantities.

The clearest evidence the system is working is the price of oil itself. As of mid-August 2026, Brent and WTI crude are trading at $85-$90 a barrel – far below the $150-plus levels many analysts warned would trigger a downturn like the Great Depression. Prices spiked early in the conflict, briefly topping $110-$120, but have since settled well short of those catastrophic forecasts. The market has absorbed the shock without panic.

Other developments have helped close the gap left by lost Hormuz volumes: Chinese oil demand has softened, and Venezuelan production climbed to about 1.2 million barrels a day this past July, nearly all of it bound for export. Between alternative routes, protected tanker movements, weaker Chinese demand, and rising Venezuelan output, the shortfall has been nearly covered.

That success doesn’t mean the war is over. What keeps US President Donald Trump from forcing a decisive blow to the Iranian regime isn’t Hormuz – it’s the persistent threat of Iranian missile and drone strikes on Gulf oil infrastructure.

Iran and its proxies have hit or threatened refineries, storage tanks, and export terminals across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain, including key nodes like Fujairah, Habshan, Ras Tanura, Yanbu, and Abqaiq.

A single successful strike on a major processing plant or terminal could still send prices sharply higher, which is why Washington and its partners have moved carefully – degrading Iranian capability while keeping Gulf production going and protected.
All Iranian mines cleared from Strait of Hormuz, Trump says
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz has been cleared of Iranian anti-ship mines nearly six months into the conflict with the Islamic Republic.

“I have just been informed by the United States Navy that all mines have been removed and/or detonated from within the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote. “Iran has been notified that any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed.”

Trump previously claimed that the U.S. military had “mine-swept the entire strait” and had “100%” control of the waterway on Aug. 10.

“Through Space Force, we are watching every square inch of the Strait, as we are, also, with Pickaxe Mountain and the already destroyed three other Nuclear sites,” the president stated. “There is a Zero Tolerance policy on mine placement in full force and effect.”


Israel: Hamas Obstructing Aid Efforts as Gaza Supplies Exceed Humanitarian Needs
"[Hamas] interferes with humanitarian operations, exploits civilian infrastructure, influences distribution mechanisms, and continues its repeated attempts to smuggle prohibited items under the guise of humanitarian aid," a senior official from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said Sunday. Since the beginning of the ceasefire in Gaza in October, the IDF has continued to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid and goods into Gaza in coordination with the UN and international organizations.

COGAT says the volume of aid entering Gaza significantly exceeds humanitarian needs as defined by UN agencies. More than two million tons of food have entered Gaza since the ceasefire, including meat, poultry, eggs, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables. 600 trucks enter Gaza every day, with 70-80% carrying food.

More than 70,000 cubic meters of water are supplied each day, equivalent to 60 liters per person per day. Four water pipelines are operational in Gaza, three of which supply water from Israel.

Advanced medical equipment has been transferred into Gaza, including X-ray machines, generators, and oxygen tanks. Ten permanent hospitals, 12 field hospitals, and four medical centers are operating regularly.
Israeli aid group announces new medical clinic for 10,000 children in Gaza refugee camp
The Israeli humanitarian organization NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief announced on Tuesday the opening of a new medical clinic that it will support at the Mega Academy of the Gaza Children’s Village (GCV), a humanitarian project aiming to give Palestinian children nutrition, healthcare, and trauma-informed support in addition to education via a curriculum devoid of hateful messaging.

The clinic, set to open on September 1 in the Al-Mawasi camp, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians live in tents in packed and squalid conditions, will be staffed by GCV nurses and doctors, while NATAN will offer telemedicine support.

It will provide preventive screening, pediatric primary care including vaccinations, specialist consultations, and dedicated rehabilitation support for children with disabilities, serving up to 10,000 children.

The project is managed by NATAN CEO Alice Miller, an aerospace engineer and former Israeli Air Force officer. Miller is nationally known for her landmark Supreme Court case in 1995, which opened the gates of the air force to female fighter pilots. This decision paved the way for today’s female combat soldiers and made Miller a household name.
New Gaza nutrition data from UNICEF shows ‘truth always prevails,’ Akunis says
A new nutrition survey led by the United Nations Children’s Fund shows relatively low levels of acute malnutrition among children in accessible areas of Gaza, which confirms Israel’s repeated rejection of claims that the Strip was experiencing widespread starvation, according to Ofir Akunis, Israeli consul general in New York.

“The truth is always stronger than their lies,” Akunis told JNS in an interview in his office on Monday.

Akunis recalled facing intense pressure in August 2025 to acknowledge claims of widespread starvation in Gaza.

“All the American media put me and the State of Israel under pressure to admit that there is starvation in the Gaza Strip,” he told JNS. “I insisted there was no starvation, because that was the truth.”

The envoy described the charges that the Jewish state was deliberately starving Palestinians as “Turkish, Qatari and Hamas propaganda” and “just a blood libel against the State of Israel and our brave soldiers.”

UNICEF published a new population-based nutrition survey based on data that it said it collected between May 31 and June 15, 2026. The survey found low rates of acute malnutrition among children in accessible areas of Gaza, and 12.2% of children were affected by stunting and 4% were overweight.

The U.N. agency stressed that the survey does not describe conditions in areas that researchers could not access. About 17% of Gazans were excluded from the sampling frame due to access and security constraints, the global body said.

Still, the findings represent an important acknowledgment of the position Israel had maintained, according to Akunis.

“Now, if you will read it in the future, you can see that that was the truth,” he told JNS. “As I always say, ‘The truth always prevails over lies.’”


Netherlands must leave Gaza coordination center due to Dutch government’s boycott of ‘settlements,’ Israel says
Israel is evicting the Dutch from the U.S.-led Civil-Military Coordination Center in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat, Gideon Sa’ar, the foreign minister, said on Tuesday.

The Jewish state is responding to “a series of anti-Israel measures taken by the Dutch government,” specifically a Dutch law set to take effect next month that will ban trade of products made in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, Sa’ar said.

The Netherlands is joining other European nations, including Belgium, Ireland and Spain, in restricting trade with Jewish communities in those areas, which the global community largely deems occupied territory.

Israel long ago annexed eastern Jerusalem and the Golan after liberating them in defensive wars.

Sa’ar wrote that he notified both the Netherlands and the United States before making his statement.

He gave Dutch representatives at the center a week to depart from Israel, and the expulsion from the center took effect immediately, he said.
US Investigators Have Proof That UNRWA ‘Social Worker’ Caught on Tape Dragging an Israeli Body Into an SUV on Oct 7 Was an Active Hamas Operative
Federal investigators have independently confirmed for the first time that a man caught on tape brazenly dragging an Israeli's lifeless body into the back of an SUV during Hamas's Oct. 7 massacre was a social worker for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) who moonlit as a Hamas "military communications" operative, according to nonpublic investigatory records obtained exclusively by the Washington Free Beacon.

Faisal Ali Al-Naami, an "UNRWA social worker," was caught on CCTV video driving with a gunman into Kibbutz Be'eri—the site of some of Hamas's most horrific crimes—and loading the corpse of 21-year-old Yonatan Samerano into the vehicle's trunk before driving back into Gaza. Al-Naami was publicly named by Israel in February 2024, when it first disclosed that at least a dozen UNRWA employees participated in the Oct. 7 massacre.

Israel's findings were characterized at the time by some Western media outlets, including the Washington Post and Reuters, as mere allegations of wrongdoing by UNRWA staff. Much of Israel's intelligence was subsequently dismissed by the United Nations when it conducted its own confidential investigation into Al-Naami and 18 other UNRWA staffers who allegedly joined Hamas's assault.

But the U.S. Agency for International Development inspector general's office, a law enforcement entity separate from the largely defunct USAID, has now independently confirmed through its own active investigation that Al-Naami—like more than 100 other UNRWA employees—was an active Hamas terrorist serving on the jihadist group's front lines, rather than a mere participant in the attacks, when he absconded with Samerano's body on Oct. 7. Al-Naami was killed by an Israeli airstrike in October 2023, according to an online martyr notice, which only listed him as a "humanitarian worker with UNRWA."

"The USAID IG's investigation independently linking UNRWA officials like Al-Naami to the kidnapping, maiming, and murders of civilians on October 7th is a game-changer," a senior State Department official responsible for Near East affairs told the Free Beacon. "While the U.N. and other Western nations sought to downplay Israel's own findings, the truth of the matter is now coming to light. The USAID IG's continued investigative findings eliminate any doubt linking UNRWA staff to the horrific images of callously tossing murdered civilians into a pickup truck on October 7."

The USAID inspector general additionally confirmed that at least three UNRWA school teachers—who are still living—participated in the Oct. 7 attacks and held Israeli civilians hostage in Gaza. It has referred all three men to the State Department for inclusion on a federal blacklist that will prevent them from participating in all American foreign aid projects for a period of 10 years. To date, federal "investigators have reviewed evidence linking at least 108 current or former staff at UNRWA to Hamas and other participation in the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel and/or affiliation with Hamas," according to the latest investigative summary reviewed by the Free Beacon.

The USAID inspector general's ongoing probe into UNRWA, historically the primary relief organization operating in Gaza, could be the final nail in the coffin for the group, which some U.S. lawmakers have demanded be formally designated as a foreign terrorist organization. The Trump administration, including its Board of Peace, is advocating for UNRWA to be fully dissolved and replaced by a new humanitarian network free of Hamas infiltration. The embattled aid group's reputation is already in tatters, and the steady drumbeat of the inspector general's findings suggests the agency may not be salvageable.


Israel evacuates UNRWA compound in Jerusalem
Israeli security forces evacuated a United Nations Relief and Works Agency compound in Kfar Aqab, in Jerusalem, after Israeli legislation barred the agency from operating in the country.

Israel has pushed to replace the agency, whose employees have been tied directly to Palestinian terror, including taking part in the Oct. 7 attacks. The Jewish state told the United Nations that its agency must cease operations in Jerusalem and vacate the compound.

“An organization whose employees were involved in the Oct. 7 massacre will have no place in Israel’s capital,” stated Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations in New York.

Israel’s mission to the United Nations also told António Guterres, secretary-general of the global body, that UNRWA holds no property rights to the compound and was told that it had to vacate.

An educational facility, which is to include six schools with 140 classrooms, and a community center are planned for the site, which is also slated to include “additional facilities” for Kafr Aqab residents, the Israeli mission said.


Netanyahu condemns MK Sukkot’s unauthorized demolition of terror monument
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday condemned lawmaker Zvi Sukkot’s unauthorized demolition of a monument to terrorists in the village of Madama in Samaria, saying public officials must not take the law into their own hands.

“The [Israel Defense Forces] has overriding authority on security in Judea and Samaria and is entrusted with implementing the decisions of the political echelon,” said Netanyahu. “Taking the law into one’s own hands, particularly by public figures, is unacceptable and hinders the IDF from focusing on its missions of combating terror and incitement.”

The IDF said the Religious Zionism MK’s entry into Madama had been coordinated, but the destruction of the monument had not.

“Contrary to the coordination, the participants acted deceitfully and manipulatively, without authority and in complete violation of the approved framework, and began destroying one of the monuments in the village of Madama,” the IDF said.

Sukkot, who chairs the Knesset Subcommittee for Judea and Samaria, said the monument commemorated terrorists and defended the move as a stand against incitement to terrorism.

He acted after the Israeli outlet Hakol Hayehudi reported that monuments had been erected in the Palestinian villages of Madama and Burin to honor terrorists involved in attacks against Israelis. The outlet reported that ceremonies were held at the sites, where candy was distributed to children.

One memorial honored Yaman Tayeb Ali Faraj, who Israeli Supreme Court records said dispatched an assailant in a 2002 attack at the Geha Junction, JFeed reported. The attack killed Adva Fisher, Noam Leibowitz, Angelina Shcherov and Rotem Weinberg and wounded more than 20 other people.

After the report, Sukkot called on the military to remove the monuments, arguing that memorials to people involved in attacks against Jews should not be allowed in areas under Israeli security control.

IDF sources said the military had already been preparing to demolish the monument through an authorized operation, Channel 12 News reported. The sources said troops had recently conducted a preliminary inspection and that the demolition had been expected to take place in the coming weeks.


IDF dismantles Hamas weapon facilities in Gaza mosques and humanitarian sites
The Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) dismantled in a joint operation on Monday five Hamas weapon storage facilities and a Hamas launch site in several strikes across the Gaza Strip, the military said.

The facilities stored rockets, weapons, explosive devices, grenades, ammunition and additional military equipment intended for use against IDF troops in the Gaza Strip, the IDF said.

These storage facilities had been established inside mosques and alongside humanitarian infrastructure, it continued.

“This is another example of Hamas’s systematic exploitation of the civilian population and infrastructure, including mosques and humanitarian infrastructure, in violation of international law,” the military stated.

The IDF said it issued warnings to the civilian population before carrying out the strikes, with additional precautions including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.

Security forces in the IDF’s Southern Command are deployed in the area in accordance with the Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire framework and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat, the statement added.

On Monday night, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter lashed out at Hamas for not disarming, after the IDF’s announcement on the uncovering of dozens of Kalashnikov rifles hidden inside mosques in Gaza.

“Hamas is trying to go back to the world of Oct. 6, when their plans to massacre men, women and children went unnoticed,” Leiter wrote on X, referring to the day before Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel, massacring 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza.

“Hamas has committed to repeating Oct. 7 at the first opportunity they get; that’s the only thing they don’t lie about. Israel won’t be surprised again at Hamas barbarism,” Leiter added.

Earlier in the day, the IDF said it had dismantled two Hamas weapons storage facilities in mosques containing dozens of Kalashnikov rifles, magazines and other military equipment. The military said storing weapons at religious sites is a “violation of international law.”


Charity Commission confirms formal decision review of Edgware United Synagogue case
The Charity Commission is reviewing its decision to issue guidance to the trustees of United Synagogue and close a compliance case relating to the hosting of the Great Israeli Real Estate event in June.

Jewish News understands the regulator concluded its compliance case and closed the matter on 27 July.

Earlier this month, the Commission suggested that trustees could do more to ensure thorough oversight over third party bookings.

However, it is now understood that following further concerns raised, including by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), the Commission has confirmed a formal decision review.

A United Synagogue spokesperson said: “The Charity Commission concluded its compliance case and closed the matter on 27 July.

“We were subsequently informed that it had decided to review that decision following representations challenging the original outcome. As such, the decision to initiate the review was taken by the Charity Commission, not by the United Synagogue.”

The spokesperson added that the synagogue’s position is that the Charity Commission “closed its investigation into this matter following its examination of the facts,” stating, “We are concerned that a case which was investigated and closed is now being revisited. We will continue to cooperate fully with the review.”

The Charity Commission confirmed to Jewish News that its decision to issue regulatory guidance and to conclude the case is now “being looked at as part of a formal decision review”.

The review will be conducted by individuals independent of the initial compliance case.

The ICJP was among those who submitted complaints regarding the Great Israeli Real Estate event, which was a third party booking rather than an event organised by the synagogue.

While hundreds of community members attended the event, Jewish News understands concerns about the staging of the event at the US shul were also raised by two individuals from the Jewish community.

The United Synagogue had sought and received guarantees from the organisers that no properties would be advertised over the green line. Despite initial denials from the organisers, the event showcased real estate projects in Ma’ale Adumim, Givat Ze’ev, Kfar Eldad, and Teneh Omarim in the occupied West Bank, as well as Ramat Eshkol and Givat Hamatos in East Jerusalem.

The London event was the final stop in a series of international roadshows – after Toronto and New York – which appeared to advertise the sale of land in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, inviting attendees to “explore the best Anglo neighbourhoods” and find their “dream home”.

There were clashes outside and a large police presence as pro-Palestine activists descended on Edgware for the Sunday event.

In a statement issued to Jewish News, organisers of the event later said West Bank property references to locations such as Givat Zeev and Kfar Eldad had been included in printed material “by mistake” but stressed that vendors had been instructed not to market properties beyond the Green Line.


‘Outrageous’: UN slams threats from Netanyahu, Katz to evacuate Gazans over ‘children’s kites’
The United Nations on Tuesday slammed Israel’s threat to evacuate people from areas where kites, drones and balloons are launched in Gaza, lamenting “unacceptable rhetoric” coming from Israeli leaders.

“On the threat of expulsion due to children’s kite flying, I hope we can all agree that this is outrageous,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

Israel warned Hamas on Sunday that it would step up operations in Gaza if launches of kites, drones and balloons toward Israel continued, after a recent increase in such incidents. Hamas has denied responsibility.

The Israeli military believes Hamas was behind the launches, which did not carry explosives and may have been testing how Israel would respond.

The incidents have revived memories of waves of kites and balloons launched from Gaza in previous years, notably in 2018-21, some of which sparked massive fires in southern Israel.

In those incidents, burning material was attached to kite tails or to clusters of helium balloons, and some carried small explosive charges, including devices that detonated on handling, Palestinians load kites and balloons with flammable material in order to fly toward Israel, at the Israel-Gaza border in al-Bureij, central Gaza Strip, on June 14, 2018. (AFP Photo/ Mahmud Hams)

Four kites were found in communities near the Gaza border on Saturday and one was shot down by the army on Sunday, bringing the total number recovered in recent days to around 10.

On Monday, Channel 12 reported that nine kites were launched from the Gaza Strip toward IDF troops in June, but the incidents were neither publicly reported at the time nor met with an Israeli response.

“Israel warns Hamas that if the launches toward Israel do not stop immediately, the IDF will act to intensify strikes against those responsible for the launches and evacuate populations from areas from which kites, drones and balloons are launched,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday in a joint statement.

Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, claimed in a statement that the kites were “launched from Gaza by children searching for their innocent childhood amid the rubble.” Soldiers seen inspecting a kite, flown from the Gaza Strip, in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, August 22, 2026. (Social media, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

In a separate statement, the terror group accused Israel of using the kites as a “pretext” for airstrikes in central Gaza on Sunday, in which three people were killed according to the Hamas-linked civil defense rescue service.





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