Pages

▼

Wednesday, September 02, 2026

09/01 Links Pt1: The Altalena’s enduring lesson: Israel must choose unity over division; IDF capture Hamas's Head of Internal Security; Swim legend Dawn Fraser speaks out on antisemitism royal commission

From Ian:

The Altalena’s enduring lesson: Israel must choose unity over division
In a week that shook the nation, the rediscovery of the Altalena made headlines across Israel.

Seventy-eight years ago, as the Altalena went up in flames on the Tel Aviv beachfront, the Jewish people stood on the precipice of civil war. In today’s divided times, with another election on the horizon, the echoes of the Altalena serve as a stark reminder of the perils of internal strife and the urgent need for unity.

The Altalena affair marked a tumultuous chapter in the birth of the new nation of Israel. In the early days of the War of Independence, the fledgling state mourned the loss of 1,176 soldiers, while the invading Arab armies also suffered heavy casualties. The UN-brokered truce provided a crucial respite for both sides to regroup and strategize.

On June 20, 1948, amidst the ceasefire, the Altalena, chartered by Menachem Begin’s Irgun, arrived off the shores of Israel, laden with immigrants and arms. The conflicting accounts of the ship’s destruction – Begin’s claim of delivering arms to his fighters and David Ben-Gurion’s accusation of a coup attempt – underscored the deep divisions within the Jewish community.

The tense standoff at Kfar Vitkin escalated into violence, leading to casualties on both sides. As the Altalena made its way to Tel Aviv, the clash of ideologies and loyalties reached a boiling point. Ben-Gurion’s firm stance on maintaining government sovereignty and order set the stage for a tragic confrontation on the Tel Aviv beach.

The intense gunfire and mutual animosity that erupted on the beach reflected the deep-seated divisions and animosities that threatened to tear the young nation apart. The aftermath of the Altalena’s destruction left a scar on the collective memory of Israel, a wound that refused to heal.
JPost Editorial: From critic to ally, Israel and Greece grow closer amid regional shifts
Greece seeks Israeli protection amid growing European divisions
The other is that here is a frontline European power - a vital NATO ally on Europe’s southeastern flank and a key member of the EU - turning to Israel for its defense. The same Israel that other European countries, including Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium - and, come the end of the month, Britain - are spurning and seeking to boycott.

Those boycotts are ostensibly aimed “only” at products from east Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the Golan Heights. But the fear is that, because of the difficulty in determining exactly where every Israeli product or component originates, they will inevitably open the door to wider boycotts of Israel itself.

The contrast could hardly be sharper.

One part of Europe is looking to Israel for protection; another wants to boycott it. Ireland would not let its new government jet be fitted with an Israeli-made system designed to help it land in fog. Greece is entrusting the protection of its population and critical infrastructure to Israeli-made systems.

But the sale does more than highlight the countervailing trends in Europe, where political hostility toward Israel and strategic dependence on it are moving in opposite directions. It also shines a spotlight on Israel’s remarkable defense prowess.

Greece turns to Israel’s multilayered defense system
Greece is interested in the same type of multilayered system that protects Israel because it has seen how effective that system has been over the last three years in defending the country against missiles, rockets, and drones launched from Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Gaza, and elsewhere. Greece watched and now wants that same level of protection for itself.

Under the agreement, dubbed Achilles Shield, Israel will provide Greece with an integrated national air-defense network. It will incorporate David’s Sling to intercept ballistic missiles and heavy rockets; SPYDER and BARAK MX systems to defend strategic sites against threats ranging from drones to cruise missiles; sophisticated MMR radars; Drone Dome counter-drone systems; and a national command-and-control network to tie everything together.

This is not merely an arms sale. It is the export of an entire defensive architecture - developed under fire, tested in war, and refined through repeated attacks by enemies using a wide variety of weapons.

Other European countries, feeling increasingly threatened by the cold winds blowing from Russia and the growing shadow of Iranian missile tech, are likely to follow suit. Governments want what works, especially when the lives of their civilians are at stake. Just ask Finland, which quietly extended its defense cooperation framework with Israel for a decade, guaranteeing the smooth, long-term deployment of its newly acquired David’s Sling system despite fierce domestic opposition.
Austrian gov’t begins work on constitutional ban of ‘Political Islam'
Austria’s government is beginning to work on a proposal to constitutionally ban “political Islam,” after Chancellor Christian Stocker called for the legislation and Integration and Europe Minister Claudia Bauer said she would draw up a proposal for the coalition partners.

ORF first reported on August 30 that Bauer is preparing the proposal and intends to send an outline to SPÖ and NEOS. This was then confirmed by Bauer on social media.

Stocker first raised the possible legislation in an interview with Heute on August 28. The chancellor expressed his intention to implement a constitutional law on political Islam, which he called “incompatible with democracy and Western values.”

In a statement, Stocker said, “I do not want our children and grandchildren to grow up in an Islamic state.”

Stocker argued that everyone in Austria is free to believe whatever they want and to have whatever faith they choose, “But where believers and non-believers are treated differently, where men and women do not have equal rights, and where our institutions, authorities, and courts are not respected, that freedom ends.”

Stoker: “It cannot be allowed to happen...that a preacher dictates things rather than Parliament”

He then claimed that there is a relative majority of Muslim students in Viennese schools, but “The crucial question is: Will these students become democrats who accept and abide by our legal system and live alongside our society? Or will they become Islamists and be politically influenced?”

Here, Stocker cited a recent figure that pupils with an Islamic religious affiliation represented 41.2% in Vienna’s primary and middle schools, constituting a relative majority.

“It cannot be allowed to happen in this country that a preacher dictates things rather than Parliament,” Stocker added. “It must not be the case that morality police in schools determine what girls should wear or how they should behave. Nor can we ignore the foundations of an ‘honor killing’ while punishing only the act itself. That is why I am in favor of regulating this at the constitutional level as well.”

Bauer reposted the statement, adding, “We will fight political Islam with all means available.”

This follows an earlier proposal by the Freedom Party (FPÖ) in March 2026. The proposal would prohibit activity in support of political Islam or its objectives, dissolve mosques and organizations deemed part of political Islam, confiscate their assets, and potentially revoke Austrian citizenship from members/supporters.


IAEA says findings at Syrian site hit by Israel ‘consistent with a nuclear reactor’
A Syrian site held infrastructure “consistent with a nuclear reactor,” the UN nuclear watchdog said in a confidential report seen by AFP on Tuesday, adding that the country’s former authorities “failed to report nuclear material, facilities and activities.”

Inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last month visited two sites, one in Deir Ezzor and a second location related to nuclear material identified by Syria.

The Deir Ezzor site nuclear reactor was the target of an Israeli strike in September 2007. Israel did not officially take responsibility for the bombing for more than a decade, in part to avoid retaliation from Damascus. But Jerusalem was widely presumed to be behind the strike, and officially acknowledged it in 2018.

“Based on observations made by the agency at the Deir Ezzor site, the agency confirms that the cooling infrastructure which has now been uncovered is consistent with that of a nuclear reactor,” the IAEA said.

The agency said it would continue to monitor the activities at the site “as the excavation work progresses.”

“Based on the information provided by Syria and the results of the agency’s verification activities conducted at several locations in Syria, the agency is able to establish that the former Syrian authorities had failed to report nuclear material, facilities and activities,” it said.

Those include “a nuclear reactor under construction” at the Deir Ezzor site.

In the report, IAEA head Rafael Grossi welcomed “Syria’s transparency and cooperation with the agency.”

“Syria has taken measures to remedy the situation by providing to the agency the required nuclear material accounting reports and design information for the above-mentioned facilities,” the report said.

Grossi said last month in Damascus that IAEA inspectors had found several tons of nuclear material in Syria, at a site Damascus reported to the agency last month.

He praised Damascus’s “courageous decision” to report the undisclosed site, which dates back to the rule of ousted former leader Bashar al-Assad.


Peta Credlin exposes risk of ‘sham’ Royal Commission after AFP warning ignored
News24 host Peta Credlin exposes an AFP warning about critical counter-terrorism staffing shortages that were made before the Bondi terror attack.


Ministers should have been required to give evidence at Bondi RC
Former Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo says ministers should have been required to give public evidence to the Bondi Royal Commission.


Aussie legend Dawn Fraser says Royal Commission fails the pub test
Australian Olympic legend Dawn Fraser has declared the Royal Commission has failed the pub test, urging it to call Albanese government ministers and Islamist organisations to the stand.

In an extraordinary intervention, Fraser - whose initial demand for a Royal Commission was instrumental in the Prime Minister’s decision to call one - has said the way the Royal Commission has operated has been a failure.

In a statement to News24.com.au, Fraser said “it’s not too late for the Royal Commission to do the right thing. I hope it does.”

“The Royal Commission has allowed cross-examination of Jewish witnesses sharing their stories, but it hasn’t called ministers to give evidence, hasn’t called members of Islamist organisations active in the anti-Israel protests, and hasn’t investigated the sources, origins and growth of Islamist extremism, which pose serious national security challenges for Australia,” Fraser said.

“This fails both the pub test and the test of those with the proper qualifications.”

Fraser referred to the letter she signed in January this year, along with 60 other prominent sporting personalities, urging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to call a Royal Commission into antisemitism, which he had been refusing to do.

Fraser’s press conference, where she demanded action from the Albanese government, captured the overwhelming sentiment of the Australian public.

She expressed strong dismay that the Prime Minister was refusing to hold the most powerful inquiry available to him into Australia’s deadliest terror attack.

Fraser now reflects on that press announcement, telling News24.com.au: “I flew down to Sydney, drove to the site of the Bondi Massacre to pay respect to the mourning Jewish community and I also met with families of those who loved ones were murdered. I called on Mr Albanese to do the right thing,” she said.

“It was my hope and expectation that the Royal Commission would fearlessly investigate the unprecedented harassment, intimidation and violence that had been directed at the Australian Jewish community since October 7, 2023.

‘Find out the reasons why’: Dawn Fraser calls for Royal Commission into antisemitism
“What followed is not at all what I, or many of the others involved at the time, envisaged. As a sports person, I claim no expertise in these matters.

“However, when I see 30 of our most senior former military, intelligence and national-security figures (including former Governor-General and Chief of the Defence Force David Hurley, former ASIS Chiefs, a former AFP Commissioner, and former Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force) all warning that key witnesses have been omitted and major stones left unturned, it tells me my instincts were right.”


Dawn Fraser speaks out on antisemitism royal commission
Shadow Home Affairs Minister Jonathon Duniam discusses Dawn Fraser’s comments on the Royal Commission into Antisemitism.

“Dawn wasn’t just speaking on behalf of herself; she was speaking on behalf of the entire Australian community,” Mr Duniam told News24 host Sharri Markson.

“She referenced 30 high-ranking Australians with some degree of experience and a view with some expertise on matters related to what the royal commission is looking at.

“Why you’d ignore what she has to say, this plea to get it right, I don’t know.”




Writer who supported October 7 attack to headline Cambridge Literary Festival event
An author who has supported the October 7 attack is scheduled to headline an event hosted by the prestigious Cambridge Literary Festival on October 8, the day after the third anniversary of the massacre.

The literary organisation has promoted on its website a “powerful and unmissable” hour with Randa Abdel-Fattah as she discusses her new novel, Discipline, despite her history of extreme remarks.

Abdel-Fattah, 47, wrote in an October 2024 article for US news outlet Mondoweiss that on October 7 there was a “glimmer” of hope that was “palpable, real, and exhilarating”.

"If you ask me about confusion, fear, and expectations, they were there in the early hours and days […] If you ask me about freedom, justice and peace, it could have been achieved,” she went on.

During an interview with Sky News Australia days after the attack, she said she did not see Hamas “as terrorists” and that the attack itself was inevitable after “every avenue of peaceful resistance” had been unsuccessful.

She also once wrote on social media: “To hell with you all. Every last Zionist. May you never know a second’s peace in your sadistic miserable lives,” according to the Australian Daily Telegraph.

The day after October 7, Abdel-Fattah changed her Facebook profile picture to a paraglider in the colours of the Palestinian flag. She claimed she was not aware at the time that armed paragliders had landed at the Nova music festival and massacred at civilians.

She said the image of the paraglider symbolised “freedom and escape from imprisonment” and rejected the claim it was a glorification of violence against civilians.

The profile picture remained unchanged for five months, which she attributed to the fact she does not regularly use Facebook.

She wrote in January 2026 that “an image that represented a moment of freedom is not something I will apologise for. I will not have my humanity interrogated by people who have no humanity.”

The writer also accused Israel of committing a “Palestinian holocaust” in Gaza and appeared to support the idea that October 7 was an “open air prison breakout” in another article for Mondoweiss published in January this year.
Sydney teen pleads guilty to planning Sydney Opera House terrorist attack after entering ISIS 'rabbit hole' online
A teenager from Sydney’s west has pleaded guilty to the planning of a potential terrorist attack at Sydney Opera House on one of its busiest days after falling down an ISIS "rabbit hole" online.

The boy, now 16, appeared before court on Tuesday, two years after his initial arrest in August 2024 by Australian Federal Police.

The court heard that the teen fell into an Islamic extremist rabbit hole after watching content on TikTok that sparked his interest, reports the ABC.

He researched and spoke to people online about committing a terrorist attack at the Opera House on the day of the Sydney Marathon, hoping to recreate the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing which killed three and injured hundreds.

The court head that he had been “conducting online research into target locations and attack methodologies for the purpose of detonating explosive devices”, choosing the Opera House for its heavy flow of tourists, reports AAP.

Despite researching into plans, the boy told the court he was only “50/50” decided on whether to carry out an attack before he was arrested.

He had however not obtained any materials for the construction of a bomb or any attack.

The court, AAP reports, heard that the boy’s reasoning behind his attack plans at the time was that Australia “helped America evade Iraq and Afghanistan and killed many muslims,” as per a message sent by him.

'Age is no longer indicative': Shocking teen murder plot exposes evolving extremist threat
He spiralled to the centre of extremist content online after first being shown historical content of Crusaders on TikTok, which piqued his interest.

The content he was viewing online became increasingly radical, focusing on the aftermath of 9/11 and pro-ISIS content, and he ultimately communicated with other extremists on messaging app Telegram.


Hundreds remember victims of Manchester synagogue attack
Several hundred people gathered at the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester, the United Kingdom on Monday to commemorate the victims of the Oct. 2, 2025 jihadist attack on that house of worship.

British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and Angela Rayner, the British government’s Communities Secretary, were among those in attendance at the memorial service for Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby, who died as a result of the assault.

The victims’ relatives and some survivors spoke at Monday’s service. One of the survivors, Rabbi Daniel Walker, who helped keep the attacker outside of the synagogue during Yom Kippur services while worshipers were inside, said the Jewish community feels less safe now than it did immediately after the attack, the BBC reported.

Lack of action to “deal with core problems” had left many members of Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation, and British Jews more widely, feeling increasingly vulnerable, the BBC quoted him as saying.

The Jewish Representative Council of the Greater Manchester and Region wrote in a statement on Tuesday that “last night was also about strength, unity and resilience. Standing together at the Synagogue where so much changed for our community, we showed that hatred will not define us. The terrorist tried to close the Synagogue. Instead, he filled it.”

King Charles and U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham sent messages.

“My wife and I hold all those whose lives were so tragically disrupted by that terrible day most closely in our thoughts and prayers. Though the months have passed, the sense of shock and sorrow remains undiminished. I shall never forget my visit to the synagogue shortly afterwards. It was a deeply moving and heartbreaking experience,” the British monarch wrote.


The Leading Candidate for UN Secretary-General Forgot Who Started the Arab-Israeli Conflict
The leading candidate for the next UN secretary-general, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett of Guyana, praises Fidel Castro and rages ignorantly, and tellingly, at Israel. She said in 2013 as foreign minister, "To speak about Cuba, its achievements, its resilience...cannot be done without paying tribute to the visionary, determined, revolutionary behind it all, Comandante Fidel Castro."

Speaking at the UN Security Council over the past few years, she repeatedly accused the Jewish state of "genocide." Rodrigues-Birkett even dumped on Israel for trying to get Gazan civilians out of harm's way. "Quite cynically," she said in May 2024, "it has urged civilians to evacuate to safe zones."

Perhaps most instructive is her September 2024 remark on the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. "The situation in Palestine today did not begin on 7 October 2023. We must cast our minds back to 1948 because it was in that year that Israel first violently rejected the two-state solution." In reality, the Jews of Palestine accepted the two-state UN Partition Plan, and the Arabs of Palestine went to war to prevent it. They lost despite the help of five Arab armies, only to recast their defeat and suffering as Israeli aggression.


Bessent sets four conditions for US-Iran talks
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that Iran must dismantle its nuclear program, surrender its highly enriched uranium, halt support for regional proxies and reopen the Strait of Hormuz before Washington negotiates an end to its economic pressure campaign.

Speaking in an interview with CNBC on Monday, Bessent said U.S. sanctions under “Operation Economic Outcast,” alongside naval-blockade efforts, have effectively severed the Islamic Republic from global markets, severely accelerating economic distress inside the country.

“The goal here is to create the conditions that they will want to come to the table, and the president’s been very clear: They have to give up their nuclear program, they have to turn over the highly enriched uranium, they have to stop their support of proxies and the strait has to be open,” Bessent said.

Bessent pointed to soaring inflation, food shortages, gas lines and the collapse of the Iranian rial as drivers forcing Iranian officials to openly voice alarm over domestic instability. While President Donald Trump has assessed that Tehran is not yet ready to negotiate, Bessent noted that mounting pressure threatens the regime’s core survival and will ultimately compel leadership to seek an agreement.

“Look, my experience with people like this, the main thing they care about is their head staying attached to their neck,” Bessent said.


CENTCOM completes wave of strikes on Iran in retaliation for targeting of US troops in region
US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it completed a wave of strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran early on Wednesday.

According to CENTCOM, the strikes were carried out in retaliation for Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the recent attack on US troops stationed in the region.

"US forces struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets including air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine laying capabilities, and communications sites," CENTCOM said in a post on X/Twitter.

"The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members."

Iranian state media IRIB reported that several explosions were heard in the cities of Bandar Abbas, Ahvaz, Aghajari, and Sirik.

The Deputy Governor of Khuzestan said that locations near the cities of Ahvaz and Aghajari were struck by American missiles, IRIB reported.

Following the strikes, electrical power to several parts of the Hormozgan province was lost, Iranian state media IRIB reported. Power has been restored to Qeshm county in Hormozgan, the area's governor announced on Wednesday morning.


Attacks on Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq as Iran launches retaliatory strikes against US bases
Iran launched retaliatory strikes on US bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, following the US's renewal of strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran on Tuesday.

Sirens sounded in Kuwait as the country's air defenses confronted attacks by hostile drones, "following the sinful Iranian aggression," Kuwait's army said in a post on X/Twitter on Wednesday morning.

"The sounds of explosions, if heard, are the result of air defense systems intercepting the hostile attacks."

Meanwhile, the Bahraini Interior Ministry announced "an alert of potential threat" in the country, with local sources telling Iranian state media IRIB that at least four consecutive explosions were heard.

Iran strikes Iraq
In a statement the IRGC claimed to have carried out a combined missile and drone attack on US bases in Erbil, Iraq.

The attack "destroyed a maintenance center and technical equipment warehouses belonging to the US military and destroying the US spy balloon guidance system at the base," the IRGC statement claimed.

"The Ground Force fighters also set the base’s fuel depots on fire and killed several of the US Forces," it added. "A large number of American troops were sent to hell."

IRIB also reported that explosions were heard near the US consulate in Erbil, Iraq. Local media also reported an impact.

Neither the US nor Iraq have confirmed such attacks.

Iranian semi-official news outlet Tasnim reported that loud explosions were heard in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq.


The Board of Peace plan for Gaza: Will it really disempower Hamas?
Israel and the US are reported to have agreed that Hamas weapons surrendered during the opening phase would be placed under the control of the ISF for destruction. Maj.-Gen. Jasper Jeffers, the US commander of the ISF, would oversee the process. Precise operational details and sequencing remain for the moment unresolved.

However, the viability of the ISF as a credible military force is far from assured. Five countries have made provisional commitments to provide troops to the ISF: Albania, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, and Morocco. These commitments are at different levels of firmness, and some have subsequently been delayed or narrowed.

Indonesia offered up to 8,000 troops but subsequently put the commitment on indefinite hold. Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev publicly committed the country to fully supporting the ISF.

Subsequent reports, however, indicate that Kazakhstan does not envisage its contribution as a combat contingent, but primarily as a humanitarian component, including medical units and a field hospital.

As for Kosovo and Albania, though they both committed to contributing troops, as yet no figures for their contingents have been released and no troops have been sent.

On August 6, Uganda’s parliament approved the potential deployment of Ugandan forces to Gaza as part of the US-backed ISF, if required. The size, timing, command arrangements, and final operational deployment of any Ugandan contingent have not been publicly settled.

Burundi, too, has been engaged in active preliminary discussions – including a reported pre-deployment site survey – but has not publicly made a final commitment to contribute troops.

Around the time of the August 17 meeting, senior military officers from Uganda and Burundi are reported to have visited the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat to prepare for the deployment of hundreds of troops in the Gaza Strip as part of the ISF. They met with officers from the IDF and the US Army, who presented the operational plans to them.

In late July, Israel authorized the entry into areas of Gaza outside its control of an initial multinational contingent of approximately 200 personnel, reportedly from Morocco and Uganda. Despite the international commitments, that appears to be the current extent of the ISF – namely 1% of its projected strength of 20,000 troops.

All the same, the Board of Peace says recruitment and deployment efforts are “well advanced.”

Meanwhile, the ISF is functioning primarily as a command, planning, liaison, force-generation, and limited pilot-deployment operation.

The 200 personnel are, among other tasks, reported to be establishing the first ISF headquarters, securing a limited humanitarian zone, and preparing the logistics and command infrastructure for subsequent troop arrivals.

One report says a 150-person Moroccan military outpost is being constructed in Gaza as an initial facility which will eventually be substantially larger.

There is evidence that the ISF infrastructure is beginning to materialize. A US funding notification reported by Reuters on August 19 commits $200 million for ISF equipment, vehicles, and operations, plus about $6 million to adapt US armored vehicles for the force.

Surely the troops themselves will have materialized by November 15.
Israel Captures Senior Hamas Terrorist in Gaza
The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Tuesday night confirmed in a statement that they had captured Hamas’s head of internal security in the Gaza Strip in the first high-level capture operation deep in Gaza in a long time.

The official statement did not make any direct mention of Gaza gangs being central to the operation, though there was a hint with a reference to Shin Bet’s “special forces.”

However, The Jerusalem Post and other media have received clear indications, along with confirmations in foreign reports, that anti-Hamas Gaza gangs were at the heart of the operation, even while supported by the IDF and the Shin Bet.

Another mystery that was solved over the course of the day was the importance of the Hamas official who has been arrested.

Earlier in the day, an Israeli official told the Post that the captured terrorist is Mu’in al-Arabid, head of Hamas’s internal security apparatus, which would have made him one of the top security officials in the Strip.

Katz, Netanyahu play up al-Arabid's importance to Hamas
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz both sought to emphasize Arabid’s importance, with the prime minister saying he played a major role in managing the hiding of the over 250 Israeli hostages after October 7, 2023.

However, a Palestinian source in Gaza told the Post that the man captured was in charge of Hamas’s internal security department in the area of Gaza City only, which would have made him more of a mid-level official.

The source added that members of an anti-Hamas group played a role in the operation and that the terror organization is trying to “downplay the incident” and “its internal security forces are actively pursuing militias supported by Israel.”

The final statement by the IDF and the Shin Bet seemed to settle on the official being more important than Hamas claimed but less important than Netanyahu and Katz contended.

While multiple Hamas chiefs of internal security and of Hamas’s entirely military have been killed, the terror group, while severely weakened, remains in control of the Palestinian population in the Strip.

“A short time ago, a senior Hamas terrorist was arrested, and this is our policy: We do not wait for threats. Instead, we pursue Hamas terrorists, thwart them, and destroy their terrorist infrastructure. We have built a strong and unprecedented security zone in Gaza to protect residents and IDF soldiers,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday afternoon.
Israel confirms capturing Hamas internal security chief in Gaza City raid
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday confirmed that the IDF had successfully captured a senior Hamas terrorist while carrying out strikes on several targets in the Gaza City area. "We do not wait for threats. Instead, we pursue Hamas terrorists, thwart them, and destroy their terrorist infrastructure. We have built a strong and unprecedented security zone in Gaza to protect residents and IDF soldiers," Katz said.

"We are not leaving Gaza until the Strip is demilitarized, Hamas is disarmed, and all terrorist tunnels are destroyed. Even after that, the IDF will remain in Gaza along defensive lines and ensure the security of the western Negev communities. Any attempt to bypass the security zone through aerial launches will be met with a harsh response."

IDF sources would not deny foreign reports that Israel worked alongside Gazan militias to arrest the senior Hamas official.


Hizbullah Shifts to Guerrilla Warfare
With the stabilization of the IDF security zone in southern Lebanon, the Hizbullah threat within the zone may involve Hizbullah operatives "trapped" in the area; limited attempts to infiltrate cells; and large quantities of weapons, with concern that they may be booby-trapped.

Hizbullah's force model on the eve of Oct. 7, 2023, no longer exists. The broad invasion plan to capture the Galilee has been neutralized; the defense plan, with an emphasis on the area south of the Litani, has collapsed; and the massive fire plan no longer exists. Hizbullah possesses fewer than 15,000 rockets.

Hizbullah is adapting itself to a prolonged, low-intensity guerrilla war based on small cells, explosive charges, drones, and dispersed rocket fire intended to preserve continuity of combat.

The ground threat has not disappeared, but instead of a large-scale invasion, Hizbullah may deploy cells numbering up to several dozen operatives to infiltrate the security zone in southern Lebanon or Israeli territory.

The number of Hizbullah regular operatives is currently estimated at fewer than 40,000. To date, the IDF has eliminated 10,000 operatives.


FBI targets Hamas online fundraising operations
Court-authorized seizures have allowed the FBI to confiscate $560,000 in cryptocurrency and take control of domains and servers used by Hamas to raise money and recruit supporters, the US Department of Justice announced.

Hamas - a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization - has been raising funds for terrorist operations and recruiting supporters, announced US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

“A message to Hamas: We will stop your fundraising for terror,” said Pirro. “Your networks are not secure, your crypto is vulnerable, and we will not stop until your ability to wage war is defeated.”

In addition to seizing the cryptocurrency donations, the department disrupted Hamas' fundraising and recruitment communication platforms and websites. Hamas originally controlled the seized infrastructure and cryptocurrency addresses on behalf of its military wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades. This work was carried out by the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office, which collaborated with human sources to identify and seize domains and servers that the brigades controlled, including its main website, AlQassam.ps.

“These seizures deprive Hamas of resources it relies on to recruit and radicalize individuals online and finance barbaric attacks like the one on October 7, 2023,” said Assistant Attorney-General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.

“We will continue to tighten the vise on Hamas’s capacity for terror by infiltrating its online networks, confiscating its cryptocurrency, and shutting down its websites.”


Honest Reporting: Australia Demands From Israel What It Didn’t Demand of Itself
In recent weeks Israel announced the closure of its investigation into the deaths of civilian aid workers in the Gaza Strip in April 2024. As a result of that two-year investigation, a decision was made not to start criminal proceedings. It is far from unusual for a democracy to determine that a criminal case is not sustainable. Australia elected not to even investigate our senior commanders for the alleged crimes of subordinates in Afghanistan on the basis of a flawed application of the law and a lack of understanding of command structures in that theatre.

Not being one to let those pesky facts and laws get in the way of some good old-fashioned Israel bashing, Foreign Minister Penny Wong described her outrage at the decision which, in her words, fell far short of the accountability we expected.

Israel conducts a robust fact finding, takes rapid administrative action against Israel Defence Forces officers, investigates and finds that a criminal threshold has not been met. Australia gives what a government-appointed oversight panel described as a “blanket exemption” to our generals from even being investigated; is that the sort of accountability we expect?

In recent years a series of Australian Defence Force administrative inquiries into suspected civilian casualty incidents in Afghanistan were found to be so lacking in rigour and investigative scepticism that the validity of the findings exculpating ADF personnel has been seriously questioned. Not a word from Wong.

Perhaps she should reflect on the adage about people in glass houses throwing stones.


Chinese fighter jet based on Israeli design sold to Muslim-majority Uzbekistan
Another Muslim country is receiving the legacy of a previous Israeli aircraft project as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructs the defense establishment to prepare for the development of a new Israeli fighter jet in an effort to maintain Israel’s defense independence.

A video broadcast on Uzbek television confirmed that Uzbekistan will become the second customer of China’s J-10C fighter jet, after Pakistan became the first country to purchase the aircraft.

The J-10 bears a strong resemblance to Israel’s Lavi fighter jet, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), whose production was canceled after a government decision in 1988.

According to foreign reports, China later bought the Lavi's plans to accelerate the development of a domestically produced fourth-generation fighter jet and modernize its air force. The funds China paid helped cover the costs of ending the project in Israel.

The Chinese fighter has already been used in combat, participating in aerial clashes between Pakistan and India last year. The aircraft was reportedly used to shoot down Indian Air Force Rafale fighter jets while carrying the advanced PL-15 radar-guided missile.





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)

    

 

 

at