Pages

▼

Tuesday, September 08, 2026

09/07 Links Pt1: A bit of rare honesty on Gaza from The New York Times; IAEA is completely blind on Iran nuke program; Iran’s grip on Hormuz was never as strong as it looked

From Ian:

Is 'Purity of Arms' holding the IDF back? Inside Israel’s battle over military ethics
You are a soldier, tasked with searching a house for a suspected terrorist and hidden weapons. The house is full of women, children, and an elderly, sick, bedridden man.

How do you proceed? Do you force the man out of bed immediately to complete a thorough search, or do you slow the search to treat him with kid gloves, possibly endangering your soldiers?

Judgment calls like these are everyday occurrences for 19-year-old soldiers – young men whose moral dilemmas only a year earlier involved not getting involved with their best friend’s girlfriend or resisting the urge to glance at the test paper of the nerd sitting in front of them.

But we send soldiers – not a cadre of lawyers – to the battlefield. How are these soldiers taught to make complex calls that could put them on the wrong end of an IED, or just as easily land them in military prison for taking an operation too far, according to the moral sensibilities of the most moral army in the world?

On August 9, according to Ynet, “The IDF raised the level of authorization required for certain strikes as high as the chief of staff, effectively requiring political approval in some cases. Commanders were also recently given explicit instructions to halt immediate-response fire, except in cases involving the removal of a direct threat.”

Per Hillel Biton Rosen, military and security correspondent for Channel 14, just days later Hamas operatives were identified crossing the Yellow Line ceasefire demarcation in Gaza, where they stole engineering equipment. Soldiers requested authorization to engage, but senior command denied the request.

The incursion was just one of more than 65 crossings, three times the number recorded the week before the rules of engagement changed.

A senior security official said: “Hamas is testing us, exactly as it did before Oct. 7. What happened last night could have ended with a soldier being abducted.”

Permission-to-open-fire orders clearly act as a deterrent and are necessary to maintain law and order.

Yet, the rules of engagement are fluid and always have been. They change with government policies and with diplomatic pressure from allies and enemies alike. Even while operating under the rules, there are days when the army is instructed by political echelons to hold its fire, even though the day before, it would have opened fire.

IDF soldiers are faced with numerous situations that require sensitivity and mindful awareness of civilian populations, but when an army is dealing with terror operatives, tunnels, and a malicious entity that disguises itself as civilian and totally controls its civilian population, it is hard for any soldier to know who in the scheme of things is who.

Israel's life-saving measures go beyond what international law requires
JOHN SPENCER – chairman of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, and one of the most prominent Western experts on urban warfare – has been a leading voice on Israel’s conduct of operations in Gaza. His views are based on comparative historical analysis of urban battles.

In a March 2024 Newsweek op-ed, Spencer claimed: “Israel has done more and implemented more measures to prevent civilian harm than any military in the history of urban warfare.”

He said these measures go beyond what international law requires and beyond what the US and its partners did in comparable fights in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Mosul against ISIS.

Specific practices Spencer lauded:
• Mass evacuation warnings (days or weeks in advance in some cases)
• Phone calls, text messages, and recorded voice messages to specific buildings or neighborhoods
• “Roof-knocking” (firing a small, non-lethal munition onto a roof as a final warning)
• Distribution of maps showing safe routes and daily updates on humanitarian corridors
• Frequent tactical pauses and localized pauses during operations
• Extensive use of precision-guided munitions and formal targeting processes

He noted that no other military has systematically combined these actions at this scale while fighting an enemy deeply embedded in dense urban terrain with a vast tunnel network.

Which raises the question: Does that make the IDF highly moral or overly cautious?
NYPost Editorial: Finally: A bit of rare honesty on Gaza from The New York Times
What do you know? The New York Times just exposed its readers to some rare honesty about Gaza — running an 1,878-word plea from a native Gazan for Hamas to be “expelled.” Hear, hear.

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, who grew up in Gaza, minces no words as he blasts the terror group for destroying what seemed to him as a boy to be “the foundations of a Palestinian state.”

The piece was one of the most unvarnished, revealing descriptions of Hamas’ evil the Gray Lady’s ever published.

From the start, he reports, Hamas behaved like “gangsters, brutalizing Palestinian women,” “torturing and killing” suspected opponents and launching “grisly suicide attacks against Israeli civilians.”

Its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel “led to over two years of Israeli bombardment that killed tens of thousands of Gazans, including much of my family.”

Alkhatib insists the group get “no role in Gaza’s future” yet laments that supposed Palestinian supporters in the West still see Hamas’ members as “honorable resistance fighters.”

He cites a rally “organized and attended by people who became key supporters of Mayor Zohran Mamdani,” where the “resistance” and “Intifada” were cheered.

And calls out Hasan Piker, “who campaigned for Mayor Mamdani, the Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and other Democrats,” for normalizing Hamas.

The failure by people like these to denounce Hamas “only helps perpetuate” Gaza’s “degradation.”

Even as recently as April, a poll found 40% or more of “Americans between 18 and 34 said they supported Hamas over Israel.”

Clearly, Gazan lives don’t “matter” to such people.

The horror of Hamas, of course, should be beyond obvious — we’ve flagged it for years.

Yet lefty outlets like the Times spill far more ink attacking Israel than Hamas.
Palestinian Writer Attacked for Refusing to Toe the Hamas Line in NYT Op-ed
Gaza-raised Palestinian-American writer Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib became the target of a wave of online attacks and false allegations after publishing a September 4 New York Times op-ed calling on Palestinians and their Western supporters to resist Hamas and reject armed “resistance” as a path forward for Gaza.

The attacks followed Alkhatib’s public rejection of Hamas and his call for Palestinians to pursue a future based on self-government, economic development and coexistence with Israel.

Alkhatib is founder and director of Realign for Palestine and a resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

In an op-ed for The New York Times, I argue that saving Gaza & its Palestinian people requires resisting Hamas, weaving in personal themes, addressing issues with the Left & "pro-Palestine" movement & proposing a vision for Gaza's future Transformation.

Backlash Over Breaking With Hamas
The response to Alkhatib’s op-ed quickly moved beyond arguments over Hamas and Gaza’s future into attacks on his motives, affiliations and personal character.

Some critics sought to portray Alkhatib as compromised, bought or secretly controlled by Israel rather than engaging with his call for Palestinians to reject Hamas.

The large pseudonymous X account @zei_squirrel made false allegations that Alkhatib was secretly gay, had been recorded sexually abusing boys and was being blackmailed by Mossad into serving as an Israeli “propaganda puppet.”

Historian and pro-Palestinian activist Zachary Foster launched a personal attack on Alkhatib while also disputing several of the essay’s claims. Foster called him the “darling of the American Jewish-Zionist establishment,” accused the piece of being “littered with lies” and concluded by describing Zionism as a form of “brain cancer.”

Mehdi Hasan told his more than two million X followers that some of the platform’s “worst,” “most dishonest” and “most fanatical pro-genocide” users were sharing Alkhatib’s article.

Alkhatib said the reaction had developed into a broader smear campaign, with fabricated posts and AI-generated material portraying him variously as Jewish, connected to Jeffrey Epstein, blackmailed by Mossad, secretly gay and paid by Israel.

Much of the material sought to explain away his opposition to Hamas by portraying him as secretly working for Israel or compromised in some other way.
UN agency accused of Hamas ties sees another European nation cut funding
Another European nation has stopped funding the U.N. agency that aids the Palestinians. Finland has followed the U.S. and Sweden in halting donations to the terror-tainted agency.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), is presently being investigated for ties to the terrorist rulers of Gaza. Recently, organizations including the USAID Office of Inspector General (OIG) and NGO UN Watch have uncovered further evidence of what they allege is Hamas infiltration of UNRWA and its members’ participation in the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks in southern Israel.

Finland announced it would discontinue funding to the organization at the end of 2026. Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs confirmed to Fox News Digital that the agreement with UNRWA would conclude at the end of 2026 but that "As of yet, no decision has been made on what are the international partners through which Finland’s support will be channeled next year to meet the acute needs in the region."

Finnish officials did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about what prompted the change to the country’s funding for UNRWA.

While other nations still continue to fund UNRWA, President Donald Trump fully banned funding to the organization in February 2025, and Sweden ended funding to UNRWA in December 2024. Sweden redirected aid to other U.N. bodies for its Gaza response.

The future of aid provision in Gaza matters for the Trump administration-backed Board of Peace as it seeks to shape a conflict-free future for the region.

An official affiliated with the Board of Peace reconstruction effort told Fox News Digital that "the international community’s concern about UNRWA in Gaza continues to rise and is supported by damning evidence. The Board of Peace has been clear: New Gaza will be both demilitarized and deradicalized, and we will only be working with trusted, credible delivery partners to achieve our goals. We anticipate responsibly replacing UNRWA with vetted partners who will deliver for the people of Gaza."

The USAID OIG is investigating about 1,500 members of UNRWA for terror participation, and has referred 108 UNRWA staff to the State Department to suggest they be suspended or excluded from further work with organizations in receipt of U.S. funds.

A senior U.S. official briefed on USAID OIG’s ongoing investigation told Fox News Digital that the USAID OIG’s "independent findings are prompting several other countries to reassess the stale and conventional thinking that UNRWA is the best and only option to provide aid to civilians in Gaza." The official said that the USAID OIG’s "findings also will prevent Hamas and October 7 affiliated staff from circulating across future, more responsible, aid organizations operating in Gaza."

Hamas fighters secure an area before handing over an Israeli-American hostage, Keith Siegel, to a Red Cross team in Gaza City on Feb. 1, 2025, as part of the fourth hostage-prisoner exchange. Ranks of Hamas fighters formed up on Gaza's beachfront in a show of force against the dramatic backdrop of breaking waves. (SAEED JARAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

UN Watch’s Terror Network report claims that about 12% of UNRWA staff in Gaza are members of terror organizations, based on "cross-checking UNRWA employee rosters with Hamas records seized by the [Israel Defense Forces.]"

Executive director of UN Watch Hillel Neuer told Fox News Digital that "Finland’s principled decision to defund terror-infested UNRWA will not deprive Palestinians of aid, as it will be redirected through genuine humanitarian agencies such as the World Food Programme that are not systemically infiltrated by Hamas."

He said that "other democracies should follow" the examples of Finland, Sweden, and the U.S. "Contrary to what UNRWA supporters claim, the agency is not ‘indispensable’ — assistance can and must be delivered through responsible alternatives."


Simon Schama: Anybody accusing Israel of committing genocide should be ashamed
Historian and professor Sir Simon Schama has warned in a keynote speech delivered at the annual Holocaust Educational Trust appeal dinner; “We will not have our job done until anybody uttering the notion that Israel is committing genocide is made to be ashamed for doing so.”

Addressing a packed room of government ministers, Holocaust survivors, and communal leaders, the 81-year-old television presenter highlighted the dire situation facing Jews worldwide, noting: “We, the victims of the greatest genocide the world has ever seen, are being called perpetrators of genocide.”

As the audience at the central London venue applauded, Schama added: “This is a profound lie.”

Reflecting on his academic career as a professor of history and art history at Columbia University, Schama recalled: “And when I hear, as I did outside my office, ‘Hey, Professor, you can’t hide. You’ve committed genocide.'”

“I did go outside and tell the facts,” Schama continued. “We are in the facts business in this room.”

In his often impassioned address, he described the rise of Holocaust denial in the United States and the recent success of the AfD party in a German election. He urged government ministers to acknowledge how the evil of antisemitism remains rife in British schools and wider cultural life.

“So we are in a very, very dark place,” observed Schama, before addressing the rise of “inversion” and allegations of “genocide.”

“We will not have our job done until anybody uttering the notion that Israel is committing genocide is made to be ashamed for doing so,” he reiterated. “That should be said in schools and universities.”

The historian continued: “You all know this happened in a genocide—18,000 Jews were shot in a single morning on November 3, 1943, at Leeinnek. Thirty-two thousand Jews were shot in a day and a half at Babiyar. Between July 27th and November 3rd, 1942, one and a half million Jews were murdered, mostly by shooting, not by other means.”

“Which is, as they say in social science departments, a kill rate of 434,000 Jews a month.”

Schama conceded that Israel’s war in Gaza had resulted in a “catastrophic tragedy” for the Palestinian people, acknowledging: “The enormity of one child’s life lost is a catastrophe, is a tragedy.”

However, he asserted that the allegations of “famine” in Gaza had proven to be “a lie.”

“There was no famine,” said Schama.

Others speakers at the event included HET chief executive Karen Pollock who also warned about the use of language once only used to describe the horrors of the Holocaust being used inappropritely today. “To the survivors here today, we have listened to you, we have learnt from you, and we will never let you down,” she said in her speech.


Germany to fight claims at ICJ it is ‘facilitating’ Gaza genocide by arming Israel
Germany on Monday will challenge claims at the United Nations’ top court that it is “facilitating” acts of genocide in Gaza by providing arms and other military support to Israel.

Nicaragua, which launched the case at the International Court of Justice, accuses Berlin of violating the Genocide Convention and international humanitarian law. While the case centers on Germany, it indirectly takes aim at Israel’s campaign in Gaza in response to the deadly October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.

Israel, which isn’t a party in the proceedings, strongly denies that its actions amount to acts of genocide.

Monday’s hearing at the court in The Hague will address questions raised by Germany over whether the court has jurisdiction in the case.

The conflict has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and devastated the enclave. Despite a fragile ceasefire brokered by the United States last year, violence has continued. Since the ceasefire was announced, Israeli fire has killed more than 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza, according to figures supplied by the Hamas-run health ministry, that do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The IDF says five Israeli soldiers have also been killed in the same period.

Germany has been a staunch supporter of Israel for decades and is the second-largest supplier of arms to Israel after the United States.

Berlin denies Nicaragua’s allegations. The head of Germany’s legal team, Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, told judges during an earlier hearing that Nicaragua’s claims “have no basis in fact or law.”

Last year, Germany stopped authorizing any exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in Gaza but later lifted those restrictions.

In 2024, the court rejected an emergency request from Nicaragua to order Germany to halt military and other aid to Israel in Gaza, but the 16-judge panel declined to throw out the case altogether.

The proceedings are the latest legal attempt to rein in Israel’s military campaign, after South Africa accused Israel of genocide at the same court in 2023.

In January 2024, judges at the ICJ ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza. Two months later, the court told Israel to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including opening more land crossings to allow food, water, fuel and other supplies.

South Africa claims that Israel largely ignored those orders.

Both South Africa’s case against Israel and Nicaragua’s case against Germany allege violations of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The convention was drawn up in the wake of the Holocaust to codify a new crime: genocide.
Rafael, Aurelius to build Iron Dome components at former Volkswagen plant in Germany's Lower Saxony
The German state of Lower Saxony, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Aurelius Capital have signed a letter of intent to purchase Volkswagen’s Osnabrück plant, allowing the Israeli defense company to establish production of Iron Dome components in Germany.

The agreement, signed at the factory on Monday, will see the Volkswagen site in Osnabrück developed into a center of excellence for innovative security and defense solutions. It will combine German engineering expertise, industrial capital and quality standards.

First reported by the German publication WirtschaftsWoche and confirmed to D&T, is a change in direction from the original plan, which initially called for the German car-maker to cooperate with Rafael to produce the parts. Qatar, Volkswagen’s largest foreign shareholder, blocked that plan. D&T understands that while Qatar also opposed to this deal, the German government was able to move forward with it.

Following the statement of intent, the consortium will hold detailed negotiations, assessments of regulatory requirements, and the necessary internal decision-making processes by all parties involved. D&T understands that this is the first step towards Berlin procuring the missile defense system, marking the second time the system has been sold to a European country.

The Osnabruck plant currently employs 2,300 people and produces the T-Roc Cabriolet, Porsche Cayman and Porsche Boxster. According to reports, Volkswagen will leave the site in the second half of 2027, and while the Iron Dome’s Tamir interceptor itself will not be manufactured there, military vehicles, launchers, generators, and other equipment will be.

Initially designed to shoot down short-range rockets, the Iron Dome has become an integral component of Israel's multi-layered defense array.

The system’s modular architecture enables seamless integration with additional defense layers, and it can operate independently or as part of a broader air defense network that includes the the Arrow (Arrow 2 and Arrow 3) system, which intercepts ballistic missiles outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, and the David’s Sling missile defense system which is designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, medium- to long-range rockets, as well as cruise missiles fired at ranges between 40 to 300 kilometers. Rafael has also manufactured the Iron Beam laser defense system which has been operational along Israel’s northern border.


PA submits US entry applications, testing plan to ban Abbas from UN confab — officials
The Palestinian Authority has submitted dozens of visa applications for entry into the US, testing Washington’s plan to again bar PA President Mahmoud Abbas from attending the UN General Assembly later this month, a US official and a Palestinian official told The Times of Israel on Monday.

While a US official told The Times of Israel last month that President Donald Trump’s administration planned to bar Abbas’s entry for the second year in a row, a Palestinian official said Ramallah was told it could still submit applications for adjudication.

Abbas is scheduled to speak on September 24, the same day as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But last year, Abbas gave his speech via video link due to the entry ban, which Washington said was in response to purported steps taken by the PA to undermine prospects for peace.

Washington didn’t elaborate at the time on its specific grievances with Ramallah, and the move was seen as part of an effort to undermine a conference that France and Saudi Arabia were hosting ahead of the General Assembly’s high-level week that was aimed at promoting a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

PA officials are also seeking meetings with American counterparts while stateside later this month, but that will at least partially depend on whether the entry ban is lifted.
Israeli clearance of Gaza rubble could destroy 'evidence,' says UN's Francesca Albanese
Israeli clearance of rubble in Gaza could destroy valuable evidence of "atrocity crimes" and prevent the recovery of human remains, United Nations Special Rapporteur to the Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese said on Monday.

The war in Gaza has generated around 61 million tons of wreckage and debris that could take seven years to clear, according to the UN.

Albanese said evidence should be gathered and human remains identified before full clearance started.

She issued a statement headlined: "UN expert warns Israeli rubble-clearing could erase traces of atrocity crimes" and said Palestinians should be behind any plans to remove waste.

"In devastated Gaza, rubble is not just construction waste," she said. "It is part of a crime scene, a graveyard, and the material record of what happened during a brutal and senseless bombing campaign that lasted two years.”

She said multiple sources had confirmed Israeli companies were involved in the clearance, without naming them. Her office did not immediately respond to questions about where that information came from.

The Foreign Ministry, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the past, all have fiercely disagreed with Albanese, who has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of Israel's military actions in Gaza.


Don’t undermine the Royal Commission, ‘you’re not going to get a rerun’
Liberal senator Dave Sharma says the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has given non-Jewish Australians an insight into Jewish life that was not previously well understood, while cautioning against undermining the inquiry as it prepares to report.

In a wide-ranging interview at The AJN’s Sydney office a week after the commission’s hearings concluded, Sharma said he had fought hard for the commission’s establishment and believed it had already achieved important things.

“The fact that it’s heard over these past nine months from many people – perhaps not every person, but many people – I think is important,” he said. “It’s provided importantly an insight for non-Jewish Australians into the lived experience of Jewish Australians.

“The fact that there are security guards at schools, the fact that there has to be the CSG, a private security force outside synagogues, the concerns parents have about sending their children to school in Jewish uniforms, or the concerns people had about wearing Jewish insignia – the Royal Commission I think helped provide that experience of voice, and I think that was important for the rest of Australians to hear, because when Australians hear these things, they realise how unacceptable and intolerable it is.”

On calls to extend the Royal Commission, Sharma said he had some sympathy but was mindful of its independence.

“I’ve been keen to take my lead from the Jewish community by and large here. If they were calling for an extension, I would support it, but I certainly haven’t detected at least a uniform view from the peak bodies … I don’t want to get out ahead of them, because ultimately they’re the best placed to judge what the best interests of the community are,” he said.

“We should all look at the Royal Commission’s findings closely and scrutinise them, and if they merit some criticism, we should be prepared to provide that. But we want to be careful not to undermine the Royal Commission entirely, because you’re not going to get a rerun. So this is what we have to work with.”

Sharma said he was however surprised the Royal Commission had not called Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minster Penny Wong or Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to give evidence. “I think they could have added important perspective and context to the Royal Commission’s work,” he said.

“In Tony Burke’s case, as Home Affairs Minister in charge of our security agencies, including ASIO and the AFP, and from the Prime Minister’s perspective, the Chair of the National Security Committee of Cabinet. Ultimately our security agencies prioritise and allocate resources according, quite properly, to the direction set by their political masters of the day. They are accountable to the elected representatives of the day … That doesn’t mean that not hearing from them fatally undermines the Royal Commission’s work, but I think it would have been helpful.”


Mike Burgess reveals his ‘profound frustration’ about antisemitism warnings going ignored
News24 host Peta Credlin says ASIO boss Mike Burgess has revealed his “profound frustration” with his repeated warnings about antisemitism going ignored.


‘Bombshell interview’: ASIO chief’s damning antisemitism warning exposes government failure
News24 host Sharri Markson says ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess has revealed deep frustration that his urgent warnings about the deadly threat posed by antisemitism were underestimated before the Bondi massacre.

“ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess, in a bombshell interview, you can hear how frustrated he is that his urgent warnings on antisemitism posing a deadly threat were underestimated by those in leadership positions before the Bondi massacre,” Ms Markson said.

“He insists others in society should have listened to his public warnings about the urgency of the deadly threat posed by antisemitism.

“This is precisely the reason that Albanese Government ministers should be called publicly to give evidence at the royal commission.

“Terrorism and radical Islamic extremism are problems facing all of Australia, and they're problems we must confront rather than simply turn away from.”


Greens Senator Nick McKim's fresh rant against 'Zionist' interests in the Australian government puts Jews in the crosshairs of hate
The denial of Jewish history and Jewish self-determination is one way in which antizionism crosses the line.

Another, even more disturbing, is the recycling of old antisemitic tropes about Jewish power and influence, expressed through coded language about “Zionism”.

In December 2023, Greens MP Jenny Leong warned that the “tentacles” of the “Jewish lobby and the Zionist lobby are infiltrating” ethnic community groups to “influence power”.

She was invoking one of the oldest antisemitic tropes - the idea of hidden Jewish interests infiltrating institutions and manipulating political power. She later apologised for the use of “inappropriate” words.

This brings us back to Senator McKim and those “Zionist interests” that have supposedly “captured” the Australian Government.

The language may change, but the trope is familiar.

The accusation that Jews wield hidden influence to manipulate governments and society was a recurring theme of Nazi propaganda and, decades earlier, lay at the heart of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion - the notorious antisemitic forgery purporting to expose a secret Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world.

Later still, Soviet antizionist propaganda routinely portrayed “Zionists” as members of a sinister international network wielding influence over governments, finance and the media.

The terminology had changed, but the imagery of hidden power and conspiracy are strikingly familiar.

Occasionally, though, the mask slips, and coded language about “Zionists” explicitly becomes denunciation of “Jewish” power.

We saw this with Leong and with UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who once described the US as “subjugated by the Jewish lobby”.

Yet we are somehow expected to believe that this obsessive antizionism has no impact on Jews, even as antisemitism surges worldwide anyway.

Criticism of Israel, its government or its policies is valid, just as criticism of any country should be.

But let's not pretend that a change of language somehow hides what has become increasingly obvious.

Antizionism is not a movement of political criticism, but one in which Jews themselves are firmly in the crosshairs.
Grossi: IAEA is completely blind on Iran nuke program
The International Atomic Energy Agency is completely blind regarding Iran’s nuclear program and has been since at least June 2025, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said on Monday.

“As stated in the report, [the] agency has neither received information from Iran regarding the status of its declared nuclear material or facilities nor had access to any of those facilities to conduct in-field verification activities,” he told the Board of Governors. “Therefore, the agency was unable to discharge its safeguards responsibilities under the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty] Safeguards Agreement at declared nuclear facilities in Iran.”

“Consequently, we were not able to verify their status for safeguards purposes and the associated nuclear material, and as a result, I am also unable to report in relation to the implementation by Iran of relevant provisions of the UN Security Council resolutions or the board’s resolutions of November last year and June this year,” he added.

“It is more than a year since the agency lost continuity of knowledge in relation to the previously declared inventories of LEU [Low Enriched Uranium] and HEU [Highly Enriched Uranium] enriched up to 60% U-235 at the declared nuclear facilities affected by the military attacks of June 2025,” Grossi said, citing Israel’s war with Iran last year.

“The agency’s lack of information about these facilities and associated nuclear material and our inability to conduct verification activities at these facilities is a matter of serious proliferation concern,” he said. “The situation needs to be rectified with the utmost urgency.”

Grossi called on Iran “to engage with the agency constructively in order to make possible the full and effective implementation of agency safeguards in Iran and to fulfill its responsibilities under the NPT Safeguards Agreement.”

“A return to diplomacy and negotiations aimed at finding a solution to issues related to Iran’s nuclear program is imperative, and the agency stands ready to support such efforts,” he said. “The situation regarding Iran’s nuclear program has implications for the global nonproliferation regime.”

At a press conference following his speech to the board, while using diplomatic language, Grossi belittled explanations by Iran, Russia, and China that tried to claim Tehran has not allowed IAEA inspections out of concern for the inspectors’ security in a war zone.
Syrian nuclear site destroyed by IDF in 2007 was useful for weapon production, IAEA chief says
The nuclear reactor Syria had nearly completed in 2007 when Israeli jets destroyed it was of a type that could quickly produce fissile material usable in nuclear weapons, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi said on Monday.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog has described its recent investigation into secret nuclear activities under the Assad family's rule as a " historic breakthrough. The investigation uncovered around 73 metric tons of natural uranium metal, mainly in the form of reactor fuel.

In a report to member states seen by Reuters, the IAEA confirmed its previous finding that the bombed site in Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zor was a nuclear reactor under construction, and that fuel for it had been made in Syria, all of which should have been declared at the time to the agency.

"This is a reactor that is very efficient in the production of fissile material that could be used directly for the fabrication of nuclear weapons," Grossi told a press conference, adding that it was "almost completed."

"That was a very serious proliferation concern," he said, while cautioning that the then-authorities' intentions "cannot be judged."
Iran’s grip on Hormuz was never as strong as it looked
What is left for Tehran?
Iran now faces three broad choices: accept some version of Washington’s terms, return to negotiations while offering meaningful concessions, or escalate against the Gulf states to restore its leverage.

The last option would be extraordinarily dangerous.

Large-scale attacks on Gulf energy facilities, desalination plants, or oil infrastructure could trigger retaliation against Iran’s own critical infrastructure and inflict damage lasting years.

Even the most radical elements of the IRGC would have reason to hesitate before crossing that threshold.

The more likely course may be to absorb mounting economic pressure while hoping that American domestic politics eventually changes the strategic environment, particularly if Republicans lose control of the House in the November elections.

But Tehran should not count too heavily on Congress ending the war. The Kosovo precedent is instructive.

In April 1999, the House tied 213-213 on a resolution expressly authorizing former US president Bill Clinton’s ongoing air campaign against Yugoslavia. The authorization failed. The air campaign nevertheless continued.

Iran has survived. That is not the same as having won.

And increasingly, Hormuz demonstrates why.


​‘Hamas’ worst nightmare’: Former Netanyahu advisor optimistic of Israeli-Saudi breakthrough
​Former Israeli ambassador to the UK Mark Regev says a breakthrough with Saudi Arabia would be Hamas’ “worst nightmare”.

​“I can assure anyone watching this program there will be a breakthrough between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” Mr Regev told News24 host Chris Kenny.

​“It’s in Israel’s interest to do so, it’s in Saudi Arabia’s interest to do so, it’s in the American interest to help us get that deal.”


Kushner: Demilitarizing Gaza ‘not going to be easy’
Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and peace envoy, said on Sunday that Washington was only beginning to understand what is required to demilitarize the Gaza Strip, calling it “beyond your comprehension.”

“Demilitarizing it is not going to be easy,” Kushner said at a press conference in Kyiv, where he appeared alongside U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The United States worked with Hamas for more than four months, he said, resulting in the terrorist group committing to lay down its weapons. “You can’t go in if there’s guns,” Kushner said. “You can’t send a government in to a place.”

“There’s a new government, a Palestinian technocratic government that’s neither the [Palestinian Authority] nor Hamas, that’s built a plan to go forward,” the envoy said.

The U.S. and Israel agree on the “end state” for Gaza, Kushner said, but continue to work through “some political issues” due to the upcoming Israeli election. “They just have a crazy election, and that makes them a little irrational in certain regards,” he added.

The Gaza Strip was “built by NGOs and terrorists, and it’s been a dystopian place for a long time,” Kushner said. “Gaza has not worked for a very, very long time.”

The Trump administration has flooded Gaza with aid since the October 2025 ceasefire and changed how it is distributed, and the war-torn enclave now has one of the lowest malnutrition rates in the world, Kushner continued.

The United Nations had previously been spending three times as much per person on aid in Gaza as it did in Syria, he noted, attributing the gap to “this whole industrial complex of aid” and terrorist groups stealing shipments.

The United States now has a plan to rebuild Gaza, drawn up by a team assembled under Trump and his Board of Peace, he said, adding that “these things take time.”


Israeli seriously wounded in terror stabbing at Samaria farm
A terrorist stabbed a young Israeli man on Monday morning at the Maoz Yehuda Farm, near the Palestinian town of Osarin in central Samaria.

The victim was seriously wounded, according to the Hatzalah Judea and Samaria (Rescuers Without Borders) volunteer emergency service. He sustained multiple stab wounds to his hand and upper body “until the knife broke,” the service said, adding that the terrorist fled in a vehicle.

The victim was evacuated to Rabin Medical Center in Petach Tikvah.

After IDF soldiers set up roadblocks throughout the area and following a brief manhunt, soldiers killed the terrorist an hour after the attack, the army said.

Soldiers located the terrorist near his vehicle outside the Palestinian town of Qabalan, according to the military. The terrorist tried to stab them, and an IDF commander “responded with fire and eliminated him,” the statement read.

“No terrorist has anywhere to hide. I commend our heroic troops who closed in on and eliminated the terrorist who carried out the attack in Samaria,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

The premier wished the wounded farm owner a full and speedy recovery, adding that Israel will continue “eliminating terrorists, pursuing those who send them and destroying terrorist infrastructure in Judea and Samaria.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the IDF “will pursue and capture the terrorist.”

“Our policy in Judea and Samaria is clear: to vigorously pursue Palestinian terrorism, develop and strengthen Jewish settlement, and maintain security stability,” Katz added.

Terrorism in Judea and Samaria is “at its lowest level in decades,” he said, adding that Jerusalem would take “all necessary measures to prevent terrorism from once again raising its head.”

Katz said he and Netanyahu had ordered the IDF to prepare for an “all-out campaign” against the Palestinian Authority and other terrorist infrastructure in Judea and Samaria if Ramallah turns its weapons against Israel.

“We will not allow a return to the reality of a prolonged intifada lasting for years, as occurred in the past,” he continued.
Teen from northern Bedouin town charged with pledging allegiance to Islamic State
A teen from the northern Bedouin town of Shibli was set to be charged on Monday with membership in a terrorist organization, after he allegedly pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

Yaqoub Shibli, 19, was arrested on August 16, and his interrogators learned he “expressed identification with the Islamic State terrorist organization, including watching content about the terrorist organization and pledging allegiance to it,” police and the Shin Bet said Monday in a joint statement.

The Northern District Attorney’s Office is slated to indict Shibli on Monday at the Nazareth-Nof Hagalil Magistrate’s Court, the statement said.

It added that this is the fourth time in recent weeks that a resident of northern Israel faces an indictment for allegedly joining Islamic State.

“The Shin Bet and Israel Police act resolutely against any activity that endangers the security of the state and its citizens, and against any activity in which Israeli citizens seek to act against Israelis on behalf of a terrorist organization,” the security agencies said.

Last week, a former IDF soldier was charged with training to fight abroad with ISIS.

The Haifa District Attorney’s Office filed an indictment against Khamis Sawaed, a resident of the northern Bedouin village of Hussniyya in his 30s, at the city’s Magistrate’s Court along with a request to keep him in custody until the end of the legal proceedings.

Sawaed indicated during police interrogation that he had watched how-to videos on warfare and missile and drone production out of “identification with the Islamic State terror group,” according to the Shin Bet and police.

According to the indictment filed against Sawaed and cited in Hebrew-language media, he served in the IDF from 2017 to 2019, but in 2023 became interested in ISIS. He then began watching the training videos in 2024, after deciding he would eventually go abroad, either to Syria or somewhere in Africa, to fight alongside the group.

And late last month, two teenagers from the Galilee were also indicted for planning ISIS-inspired attacks against security forces.


Belgian State-Owned Development Agency Employee Identified as Hamas Terrorist
Newly surfaced material published on Sept. 4 by Gabriel Epstein, a Senior Policy Associate at Israel Policy Forum, indicates that Abdallah Nabhan, an employee of Belgium’s state-owned development agency Enabel, appears to have been a member of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade.

Nabhan worked for Enabel from April 2020 until his death in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah in April 2024. Enabel is a public-law company wholly owned by the Belgian state and serves as one of Belgium’s principal vehicles for implementing international development programs.

Following Nabhan’s death in 2024, Enabel identified him as a Business Development Officer working on a European project supporting small businesses in Gaza and described him as a “very dedicated and valued colleague.”

Israel’s ambassador to Belgium, Idit Rosenzweig-Abu, said following the strike that the house where Nabhan and his relatives were staying belonged to a senior Hamas operative from Nabhan’s extended family and that the operative was the intended target of the airstrike.

Enabel condemned the strike as an attack on “innocent civilians,” while Managing Director Jean Van Wetter called it a “flagrant violation” of international humanitarian law. The agency also said Nabhan, like its other employees in Gaza, had been included on a list of people eligible to leave the territory that had been submitted to Israeli authorities months earlier. Enabel later dedicated its 2023–2024 annual report to Nabhan and his son.
Israel demands Belgium apologize after Gaza aid worker’s possible Hamas link emerges
Israel’s embassy in Belgium on Sunday demanded an apology from Brussels over its condemnation of an IDF strike that killed an employee of the Belgian development agency Enabel in Gaza in April 2024, citing newly surfaced material that it said indicated the worker was in fact a Hamas fighter.

The embassy pointed to a post by a channel affiliated with Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade describing Abdallah Nabhan as a “mujahid” and showing him in uniform.

Following the strike, “Belgium summoned Israel’s ambassador, and international condemnation followed,” the embassy wrote on X, saying, “before rushing to condemn Israel, facts matter…A public apology would be preferable, but a private one will also be accepted.”

The report has not been independently verified, and there was no immediate response from Belgium.

At the time of the strike, Belgium’s development minister said Nabhan, 33, and his seven-year-old son had been killed in eastern Rafah.

The embassy’s demand comes as Hamas and other Gaza terror groups have begun identifying slain combatants they had declined to name in recent years — some previously described as journalists or civilians — lending credence in certain cases to Israeli assertions that they were legitimate military targets and prompting a reassessment of previous reports.


🚨It’s Starting! Gazans Break Silence, What Comes Out Is Beyond SHOCKING!
A Gazan activist just called for the end of Hamas, and the backlash from the Western Left reveals a much bigger problem. In this episode of "The Quad", Emily Schrader and the panel unpack the firestorm surrounding Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib’s New York Times op-ed, asking why some Western activists refuse to listen when Palestinians themselves condemn Hamas.

Then the debate turns inward as U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee labels violent Israeli extremists “terrorists”: Is he right, is the comparison with Palestinian terrorism dangerously misleading and does Israel need to confront its own extremists more aggressively?

Plus, the panel takes aim at Macklemore, Ed Miliband and more in this week’s Scumbags and Heroes!







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