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Friday, August 28, 2026

08/28 Links Pt1: Durban: A milestone in the new antisemitism; Israel lauds Finland’s decision to end UNRWA funding; Syria: Turkey's New Battleground Against Israel

From Ian:

Secret, direct channel between Israel and Hamas credited for enabling Jan. 2025 hostage deal
Israeli television on Friday reported further details about this week’s revelation of the direct channel of communication between Israel and Hamas during the recent Gaza war, which a source quoted by the network said played a critical role in securing the release of some hostages.

The channel was established in August 2024, according to Channel 12 news, shortly after Hamas operatives executed six Israeli hostages abducted during the October 2023 massacre that sparked the war, after sensing Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip approaching their tunnel.

There was considerable frustration in the Israeli security establishment after that incident, leading to the conclusion that a direct channel of communication was needed with Hamas and that mediating countries Egypt and Qatar could not be solely relied on.

A channel was set up between a senior Shin Bet official — on behalf of agency chief Ronen Bar — and senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad. The report did not detail how the sides established direct contacts, which were approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, who at the time served as deputy to Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar.

The communication between the senior Shim Bet and Hamas representatives took place strictly over the phone, with dozens of calls taking place between them. Bar would listen in on them in real time.

A source familiar with the channel said it was used to neutralize many “landmines” in the hostage talks.

But they also devolved into shouting matches, with each side arguing over names, and Israel making clear which Palestinian security prisoners it would not release under any circumstance, according to the source.

The source claimed the direct channel run by the Shin Bet was also essential for overcoming obstacles set by Qatar, “which did not supply the goods and became a disruptive element.” The Shin Bet sparred throughout the war with fellow intelligence agency Mossad over who should mediate, with the Shin Bet favoring Egypt while the Mossad preferred Qatar, which has hosted Hamas leaders and is a leading patron of the Gaza-ruling terror group.

The source familiar with the Shin Bet channel credited it for for getting Hamas on board with the deal that was eventually reached in January 2025, during which dozens of both living and slain hostages were freed in small batches in return for boosted humanitarian aid to Gaza and over 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

“[Steve] Witkoff got Netanyahu on board. We got Hamas on board,” the source claimed in reference to US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, who was hailed at the time for helping sway the premier after a “tense” meeting in Jerusalem.

As part of the January 2025 deal, the sides also agreed to hold talks on a second and third phase that would include the return of all hostages, end the war, and ensure a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but the truce collapsed after the first stage. In October that year, another US-backed agreement was reached to end the war that saw Palestinian terrorists release all the remaining captives.
Legal expert defends IDF rejection of World Central Kitchen strike investigation - interview
On April 1, 2024, the IDF mistakenly killed seven international food aid workers working for the World Central Kitchen (WCK).

Last week, the IDF probe admitted that its surveillance officials misidentified the WCK security officials as Hamas members.

While acknowledging the gravity of its error, the chief military prosecutor of the Military Advocate-General (MAG) Corps determined that, notwithstanding serious failures in the process that led to the assessment that Hamas operatives were traveling in the vehicles, the decisions of the commanders did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct.

The IDF therefore decided not to open a criminal investigation.

Following this announcement, in a joint statement the foreign ministers of the UK, Australia, and Canada said the decision not to pursue criminal investigations was “shameful.”

“They just say it’s a shame that Israel hasn’t brought criminal charges – they don’t specify what is shameful about it,” Dr. Brian L. Cox told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. A very thorough assessment, no evidence of war crime

Cox retired from the United States Army in 2018 after 22 years of service, including seven years as a military lawyer. He is now a senior fellow at Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Canada, and he taught international law at Cornell Law School from 2019-26.

Cox told the Post that it makes sense for Israel to not pursue criminal charges because they have done a “very thorough assessment based on all the evidence they can gather, and they’ve reached the conclusion that this wasn’t a war crime.”

From an International Humanitarian Law (IHL) perspective, this case is “really straightforward,” he noted.

“If the personnel involved believed they were attacking Hamas fighters and not WCK humanitarian workers, then it wasn’t a war crime. And that’s just a doctrinal application of the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) distinction rule.”

Cox added that militaries can prosecute for violation of use of force policy, but then it would have to be “really egregious, a wanton disregard” of policy, which was not the case here.

While the IDF chose not to open criminal investigations, it did remove several officers from their positions, and others were formally reprimanded, an outcome that Cox said would have been exactly the same if the incident had involved the Australian, UK, or Canadian military.

Cox pointed out that a “double standard” is being applied to the IDF here.

“Just because there was an allegation that has been leveled against Israel, the expectation is that the IDF will initiate a criminal prosecution. That expectation doesn’t exist for any other military, including the three countries that signed this joint statement.”
When a soccer league honors ‘martyrs,’ the world should stop turning a blind eye
Soccer is a game that connects us all, until it comes to terror
Rarely is it something that we connect with terrorists, hatred, or incitement, unless it comes to the Palestinians.

I have watched the magic of Messi and Ronaldo over the years, and I remember back in 2018 when all of Israel, including me, was super excited to welcome Messi and his team as Argentina came to play Israel in June 2018.

It was their final friendly match before heading to the FIFA World Cup in Russia.

I was seriously trying to get tickets for that match, but something utterly repulsive happened: the game was initially set for Haifa but was moved to Jerusalem because of security concerns and threats against Messi.

This was because a well-known terrorist was so furious about this match that he actually encouraged people to burn pictures and jerseys of Messi, and incited them to violence or to do anything possible to stop that match from happening. Yes, you heard that right.

This terrorist was living the high life, in the fast lane instead of sitting in an Israeli jail where he belongs!

His name is Jibril Rajoub, and believe it or not, he is the head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) soccer federation. Are we really surprised?

He was sentenced to life imprisonment by an Israeli military court for throwing a grenade at an Israeli army truck, and while in prison he learned to speak Hebrew, studied politics, and joined Fatah, eventually becoming a prominent prisoner and leader among his incarcerated comrades and terrorist friends.

He was unfortunately released in the Jibril Agreement prisoner swap and deported by Israel to Lebanon, due to his active role in organizing the First Intifada, where nearly 200 Israelis were murdered.

He lives and breathes hatred for Israel, which is why he went absolutely mad in 2018 when the national team of Argentina was planning to come to Israel.

Thank goodness, FIFA actually suspended him from official activities for one year due to his vile incitement to hatred and violence in calling on soccer fans around the world to burn jerseys and pictures of Messi.

His pathetic appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have that suspension removed was rejected.

He has a long record of vile incitement and anti-Semitic statements, which, among others, included saying that the Jewish people deserved the Nazi genocide perpetrated against them. Additionally, he openly declared that if the PA possessed a nuclear weapon, it would use it against Israel.


Durban: A milestone in the new antisemitism
In Durban, Fidel Castro, Yasser Arafat and Robert Mugabe converged, and the Jewish question was inserted into the heart of demands for billions in reparations for slavery. Israel obviously had nothing to do with this history, but it was portrayed as absolute evil.

The Palestinianism of Durban held that Israel was racist, imperialist, colonialist and genocidal—and therefore even a slave-owning power. All these adjectives are meaningless when applied to a country that represents the miraculous return home, disarmed and hungry, of the people indigenous to that land, armed only with hoes and books. They armed themselves only when, awakening from the dream, they realized that their lives were once again at risk. And even then, Israel continued to surrender large pieces of territory in the search for peace.

I was there
In Durban, I rented a room inside a compound surrounded by high walls. I shared it with a journalist from the Italian left-leaning daily, La Repubblica, who was thrilled by the opportunity to encounter Castro and the other idols of the era in the corridors—and, with a little luck, perhaps Nelson Mandela as well.

There was the official conference, the domain of Mary Robinson, who purported to moderate the international proceedings and restrain them from excessively harsh resolutions that had in fact been planned from the beginning. Then there were the stadium and other NGO gathering places, where antisemitic hatred was expressed in every possible way: leaflets, speeches, songs and actual physical hunts for Jews.

Several times I had to run away and seek refuge in a building belonging to the local Jewish community, where one could also find something to eat.

Thousands of NGO members wore T-shirts bearing the image of Mohammed al-Dura alongside the conference logo. The production of leaflets about Palestinian suffering was endless. Jews were depicted with missiles and knives, blood dripping from their mouths and murdered children.

The word “genocide” was already commonplace.

From the podium, in a crowded, darkened hall, Fidel Castro, while demanding financial reparations for entire continents for slavery and colonialism, spoke of “the terrible genocide being perpetrated today against our Palestinian brothers” by Israel’s then-prime minister, Ariel Sharon, whom he described as a far-right leader acting in alliance with the “hegemonic superpowers.”

Arafat celebrated the universal acceptance of his worldview, describing the situation as the “expression of the racist colonial conspiracy” to uproot the Palestinians and conquer their land.

In short, the troops of that global war had finally assembled—a war that only days later would find its expression in the attack on the Twin Towers. That was the true meaning of Durban. And the Palestinian cause, together with the destruction of Israel, was baptized as the indispensable prerequisite for every revolutionary struggle.

The astonishment and disbelief in Israel and the United States were enormous. After everything the Jews had endured, and while they were suffering through the Intifada, finding themselves once again facing such a broad and senseless assault on their right to self-determination and self-defense, their right to return home and the very liberal-democratic nature of their country seemed like a nightmare.

The two delegations under attack took days to decide to leave.

Israel continued to insist, as Diaspora Affairs Minister Michael Melchior said, that racism—the supposed subject of the conference—was so important to Jews that the country wanted to participate in the discussion and the decisions.

In the end, the United States and Israel had to walk out.

Canada and Europe remained, but the European position sought an impossible compromise. It proposed restoring the Holocaust to the final documents as the worst expression of racism. The interventions by Italy’s Renato Ruggiero, Germany’s Joschka Fischer and, in the corridors, the excellent Margherita Boniver—the only one who understood fully, to the point of tears—were hesitant and moderate.

Fischer had the strength to say that the right of the Jews to their own state was indisputable. But he returned to the Palestinians’ right to a state and once again forgot that Israel had never called that right into question since 1948, despite its countless offers.

‘Did not happen in a vacuum’
By contrast, the denial of the Jews’ right to have their own state like every other people reached its paroxysm on Oct. 7.

And once again the United Nations lined up against Israel, as it had at Durban. So it was with the words of U.N. Secretary-General Antรณnio Guterres, who, instead of expressing horror and condemnation, responded with his infamous statement that the Oct. 7 attacks “did not happen in a vacuum.”

It is true: They did not happen in a vacuum.

Durban is a milestone in the antisemitic catastrophe that once again torments the world today, and the United Nations is its prophet.


Israel lauds Finland’s decision to end UNRWA funding, invites other nations to join, Danon says
Almost 24 hours after Ville Tavio, Finnish minister for foreign trade and development, said Finland would stop funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the Israeli Foreign Ministry lauded the development.

“Israel welcomes Finland’s decision to end its multi-year funding for UNRWA,” the Jewish state said on Friday. “It is good to see more countries recognizing the undeniable truth in light of the conclusive evidence of UNRWA employees’ involvement in the Oct. 7 massacre and UNRWA’s inseparable links to Hamas.”

“UNRWA is a hotbed of terrorism,” the Israeli ministry said of the U.N. agency. “It is part of the problem, not part of the solution.”

On Thursday, Tavio stated in Finnish that the country’s “support agreement with UNRWA ends, and funding to the Palestinian territories continues through other channels.”

“The multi-year support agreement made between Finland and UNRWA during the previous” Social Democratic Party of Finland “government ends, and I have not granted it an extension,” Tavio stated. “The level of funding does not decrease, but is provided through other channels, such as the World Food Programme.”

Antรณnio Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, “continues to encourage member states to support UNRWA’s vital work,” his office told JNS.

“As to Finland, UNRWA has taken note of the announcement, and they are grateful to Finland for the disbursement of the 2023-26 funds under the multi-year agreement,” the secretary-general’s office told JNS. “UNRWA looks forward to continuing our discussions with the government.”

Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, told JNS that “over the past three years, Israel has systematically exposed how UNRWA has effectively become an extension of the Hamas terrorist organization.”

“For years, UNRWA schools have incited violence against Israel, UNRWA employees actively participated in the Oct. 7 massacre and throughout the war, terrorists carried out attacks against Israelis from UNRWA facilities,” the Israeli envoy said. “This is why the State of Israel outlawed UNRWA. I welcome the Finnish government’s decision to end funding for UNRWA and call for other nations to join us.”


Syria: Turkey's New Battleground Against Israel
Turkey's continued financial support for Hamas and its provision of safe haven to Hamas terrorists only adds to Israel's view of Turkey as a hostile actor, an attitude that is not helped by Erdogan's constant use of anti-Israel rhetoric in political campaigning and official communications. In June, for example, Turkey's interior minister called for the "liberation of Jerusalem."

Israel's intelligence establishment, though, presented the US with evidence that Erdogan has other ambitions, which include expanding and solidifying Turkey's military presence at Syrian bases previously used by the Assad regime's Iranian and Russian allies.

In addition, Erdogan has stated that "Jerusalem is ours," and as recently as March 30, 2025, "May the Lord make Zionist Israel destroyed and devastated."

Erdogan published a 758-page document that outlines his long-term phased plan to take over "Israel, the Middle East and the Free world."

Amichai Chikli, Israel's Minister of Diaspora Affairs, said, "Ahmed al-Sharaa's military is ErdoฤŸan's military. Al-Sharaa's ideology is ErdoฤŸan's ideology. ErdoฤŸan and al-Sharaa's ideology is Al Qaeda and ISIS ideology," and cited what he described as their barbaric treatment of non-Muslim minorities in the region.

[I]t is vital that Erdogan not be allowed to pursue his expansionist aims in Syria and certainly not to have F-35 stealth fighter jets.


UN Security Council to talk post-UNIFIL Lebanon on Friday
The United Nations Security Council is set on Friday to discuss a post-UNIFIL landscape for Lebanon; both Washington and Jerusalem are clear: The time for international peacekeepers north of Israel’s border is closing.

UNIFIL—the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon—has been anything but interim. Formed in 1978, ostensibly to help keep the peace between Jerusalem and Beirut, the mission has come under withering criticism from Israel and the United States for allowing the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group to operate under its nose with little to no pushback, giving it significant ground from which to launch attacks on the Galilee.

The United States, through its veto power on the Security Council, forced an end to UNIFIL’s mandate, with an expiration date at the end of this calendar year, followed by a drawdown period for UNIFIL’s roughly 8,000 military personnel and 600 civilian staff

U.N. Secretary-General Antรณnio Guterres has proposed to the council, at its request, three options for post-UNIFIL consideration.

They include approximately 5,525 uniformed personnel along the unofficial, U.N.-deliminated international border called the Blue Line and up to the strategic Litani River; approximately 3,370 uniformed personnel, combining an unarmed military observer group with protective armed units for protection between the Blue Line and the Litani; and approximately 1,980 uniformed personnel with a limited geographic footprint and with little enforcement capability, focusing more on liaison and reporting functions.

But while the council will debate those choices behind closed doors on Friday, Israel is saying the council already got it right by voting to shutter UNIFIL and needs to keep heading in that direction.

“We support the implementation of the Security Council resolution to end UNIFIL’s mandate in Southern Lebanon, but we oppose the deployment of new international forces in the area. We must not repeat the grave mistake of UNIFIL,” Danny Danon, Israel’s U.N. ambassador, told JNS.

He and the Americans instead want to work through the trilateral framework established earlier this year between Washington, Jerusalem and Beirut, which is working on political and security tracks to remove the threat of Hezbollah, reestablish Lebanese sovereignty in the southern part of the country and settle international border disputes, with the hopes of establishing peace between Israel and Lebanon.

A U.S. official told JNS this week that the framework, if successfully implemented, will eliminate the need for more international peacekeeping missions in the area, including the use of so-called pilot zones, in which the Lebanese Armed Forces are to establish control over Hezbollah-held areas, leading to a withdrawal by the Israel Defense Forces from its protective positions in Lebanese territory.

It is unclear if the pilot program is working as intended, with mixed reporting on the issue.
Hezbollah chief again rejects Lebanon-Israel deal, refuses ‘surrender’
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem again rejects a deal struck between Israel and Lebanon and says his Iran-backed terror group refuses to “surrender” nearly six months after war erupted with Israel.

“We are against the framework agreement and call for its downfall,” Qassem says in a televised address broadcast on the group’s Al-Manar television channel.

Israel and Lebanon launched US-sponsored direct talks after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by attacking Israel, which responded with massive strikes and a ground invasion that Lebanese authorities say have killed more than 4,300 people.

At talks in late June, Lebanon and Israel signed a framework deal that calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in “pilot zones.”

“The framework agreement is illegitimate, unlawful, humiliating, destructive to Lebanese sovereignty,” Qassem says.

“We do not agree to the ‘pilot zones’ or to what comes from them,” he says, also rejecting any proposed verification system.

A fresh round of talks is planned for early September, but no date has been announced yet.

Qassem says his group supported the implementation of a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end a previous war with Israel.

“We will keep our heads high and we will not surrender,” he vows.
Two teens indicted for planning ISIS-inspired attacks on Temple Mount, security forces
Two Israeli males, one of whom is a minor, were to be indicted Friday morning over plans to attack security forces on behalf of the Islamic State group, the police and Shin Bet announced in a joint statement.

The first suspect, a 16-year-old resident of the Galilee, was arrested on August 4.

An investigation revealed that he was searching online for instructions on how to prepare explosive belts, and that he “intended to carry out an attack against police officers and Jewish soldiers on the Temple Mount,” the statement alleged.

Several days later, as the investigation progressed, another suspect was arrested. He was identified as Ibrahim Kaabia, 19, a resident of Haifa.

Kaabia also allegedly swore allegiance to ISIS and planned to attack an army base in northern Israel, police said.

Haifa district prosecutors will file the indictments against both suspects and request that their detentions be extended through the end of the legal proceedings, the statement said.

The statement did not specify what charges they would face.

Kaabia’s attorney, Suhad Aga-Dahla, denied that he had planned an attack, describing him as a “young, normative man” who had excelled at school in Haifa, begun working in his family business and was expected to begin university studies in the coming year, according to a Ynet news report.

She said Kaabia’s family was shocked by the allegations and argued that his exposure to ISIS material stemmed from “the curiosity of a young man,” rather than any intention to harm the state. She described him as “a loyal citizen.”

Dozens of Arab citizens have been arrested in recent years on suspicion of plotting attacks on behalf of Islamic State, including five residents of Taybe who allegedly plotted to set off a car bomb at Tel Aviv’s Azrieli mall in 2024.
IDF kills Hamas-linked former senior Jenin terror cell member in West Bank vehicle strike
The IDF killed a former senior Jenin terror cell member and two additional terrorists in an IAF airstrike on their vehicle in the West Bank on Friday, the military confirmed in a joint statement with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).

The senior terrorist, Qais Bitwani, was a Hamas operative in the now-dismantled Jenin terrorist network, according to the joint statement.

Qais Bitwani was a relative of the former Jenin terrorist network commander, Noor Bitawi, who was killed by the IDF in May 2025, the military and security agency said.

The statement noted that Qais Bitwani was involved in "significant" terror activities, including "directing, funding, and executing" terrorist attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians.

Bitwani had maintained his connections to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as well as international operatives, the statement added.

According to the IDF and Shin Bet, the other two terrorists in Bitwani's vehicle were his accomplices, and the vehicle also contained weapons.


Nasser Hospital Strike: Media Eulogize Casualties Exposed as Hamas & Islamic Jihad Terrorists
A year after an Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis killed 22 Palestinians on August 25, 2025, major news outlets returned to the incident with lengthy investigations into what happened.

But some of that coverage omitted a significant part of the story: Palestinian sources themselves published material indicating that a number of those killed were affiliated with terrorist organizations.

On August 25, Sky News published an anniversary report declaring that “no one” had been held accountable for the strike. Although noting that Israel had said six of those killed were linked to Hamas, it added that the IDF “did not provide evidence” for that claim.

On August 23, The Independent published an extensive joint reconstruction of the attack centered on journalist Mariam Abu Dagga, who was among those killed.

The Independent went even further in questioning Israel’s account.

Citing Israeli military whistleblowers, The Independent reported that striking a surveillance camera would not ordinarily require additional authorization. Its sources nevertheless claimed that repeatedly firing on a hospital would have required approval at battalion level or higher, raising questions about how the Nasser Hospital strike was authorized.

The outlet further alleged that, after the strike, the military sought to establish links between some of those killed or wounded and Hamas. One source characterized this as “retrospective framing.”

The Independent also pointed to evidence that several of the men subsequently named by Israel held civilian jobs or had been involved in rescue efforts when they were killed.

In short, the reporting suggested that Israel had sought to justify the strike after the fact.

But that account leaves out important evidence.

A review of open-source material independent of the IDF appears to link some of the Nasser Hospital casualties to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).





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)

    

 

 

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