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Dan Senor’s most recent Call Me Back podcast features Matti Friedman. Among many other things, Friedman is a former AP Jerusalem bureau staffer. It is his AP experience that prompted him to think through the wide world of sickness that we see in the reaction of the outside world to Israel’s current life-and-death struggle with Hamas. Senor asks good questions and lets the incredibly articulate Friedman speak.
Senor has posted the podcast with this introduction:
Every day we see news accounts “reported” by reputable journalists. There is typically one frame in the post-10/07 War: “Gazan Palestinians are the victims of Israel.” How does this happen? How do journalists actually operate in Gaza and around the world? And is this a window into what had Hamas figured out long before 10/07 — that the forces of barbarism could manipulate the intentional press reaction to their massacre of 10/07? That is why we wanted to sit down with Matti Friedman, who is one of the most thoughtful writers when it comes to all matters related to Israel, the broader Middle East, and also trends in the world of journalism.
He writes regularly for The Free Press and is a regular contributor to The Atlantic. His newest book is called Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai. Before that he published Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel, and before that Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier’s Story of a Forgotten War.
Matti’s army service included tours in Lebanon. His work as a reporter has taken him from Israel to Lebanon, Morocco, Moscow, the Caucasus, and Washington, DC. He is a former Associated Press correspondent and essayist for the New York Times opinion section. But it was his time covering Hamas’s takeover of Gaza that led him to study with great detail how Hamas manipulates the media, NGOs and the international community, and how they are working from the same playbook right now, perhaps quite masterfully.
I urge interested readers to check out the podcast below.
Here are the show notes citing Friedman’s work discussed in the podcast (I especially commend Friedman’s 2014 Tablet column linked below):
“The Wisdom of Hamas” — The Free Press.
“What if the Real War in Israel Hasn’t Even Started?” — The Free Press.
“There Is No ‘Israeli-Palestinian Conflict'” — The New York Times.
“An Insider’s Guide to the Most Important Story on Earth” — Tablet Magazine.
“What The Media Gets Wrong About Israel” — The Atlantic.
Caroline Glick recommends Margaret Brennan’s interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning on Face the Nation as “very important.” In it he faces the Biden administration talking points argued by Sullivan. She does not ask a single question that reflects sympathy with Israel’s ordeal, yet the Jew haters are having their say in the comments at YouTube. I infer that Netanyahu was able to make his own points effectively. CBS has posted the transcript of the interview here.
Thich Quang Duc was the Buddhist monk who self-immolated to protest the Diem regime during South Vietnam’s so-called Buddhist crisis of 1963. The AP’s Malcolm Browne won the World Press Photo of the Year in 1963 with the famous photograph of Duc on fire. Ray Boomhower’s forthcoming book about it is titled The Ultimate Protest.
Air Force senior airman Aaron Bushnell replayed the scene outside the Israeli embassy in Washington this past Sunday afternoon. He called it “an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all.” He posted a video online saying he did not want to be “complicit in genocide.” He repeatedly shouted “Free Palestine” as he burned. He died later that night, apparently of the injuries he sustained lighting himself up.
It’s a bizarre story. The New York Post reported on it here and here, the Washington Post here, and the Daily Mail here (with video before Bushnell doused himself).
The Washington Post reports that Bushnell’s “suicidal protest instantly won him praise among some antiwar and pro-Palestinian activists…” If you get your news from the Washington Post, support for Hamas is now “antiwar” and “pro-Palestinian” means pro-Hamas.
The New York Post unsuccessfully sought comment from the Israeli embassy. However, Brendan O’Neill is not so discreet. He comments in his Spiked column here.
Anyone contemplating self-harm or suicide should get help. Bushnell needed a friend to urge him to reconsider or to give himself time to reconsider. Mental illness runs deep.
Bushnell might have helped himself by applying critical thought to what he reads in newspapers like the Washington Post and figuring out who’s zoomin’ who in “Palestine.” Israel is not committing “genocide.” It is the victim of those who expressly seek to commit “genocide,” but I’m sure Hamas is grateful for Bushnell’s support.
And Bushnell wasn’t “complicit” in Israel’s effort to defend itself against genocide. A combination of political witlessness and mental illness appears to have rendered Bushnell impervious to the reality principle.
Cornel West is the Princeton University Class of 1943 University Professor emeritus. He is running as an independent candidate for president. He fancies himself “one of America’s most provocative public intellectuals; a champion for Truth, Justice & Love.” That’s what the man said. In the tweet below, he celebrates the suicide of Aaron Bushnell in the service of “free Palestine” — free, Hamas style. If he gets on the ballot in Michigan, he poses a certain kind of danger to the reelection of Joe Biden.
Let us never forget the extraordinary courage and commitment of brother Aaron Bushnell who died for truth and justice! I pray for his precious loved ones! Let us rededicate ourselves to genuine solidarity with Palestinians undergoing genocidal attacks in real time!… pic.twitter.com/9F7dXOAYJt
— Cornel West (@CornelWest) February 26, 2024
I understood from the Star Tribune headline over the AP story yesterday that the IDF had massacred some 100 Gazans seeking food and water. As of this morning, the AP is sticking with the story with a Rafah dateline. It leads with this observation: “Israeli troops fired on a crowd of Palestinians racing to pull food off an aid convoy in Gaza City on Thursday, witnesses said.”
I’m not sure about the massacre. Deep into the story we hear from the ever reliable “Gaza Health Ministry.” The AP reports: “At least 112 people were killed, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said. The ministry described it as a ‘massacre’ and said more than 700 others were injured.” The AP raises no warning about the record of the “Gaza Health Ministry” on such matters.
The IDF spokesmen have a better record than the AP on these IDF alleged massacres. I take it that the IDF denies that’s what happened, although it is investigating. [See update below.] The Times of Israel reports, per the IDF, that troops opened fire on several Gazans who moved toward soldiers and a tank at an IDF checkpoint, endangering soldiers, after they had rushed the last truck in the convoy further south. The Times of Israel story quotes IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari:
This morning, the IDF coordinated a convoy of 38 trucks to provide additional humanitarian assistance to the residents of northern Gaza. This humanitarian aid came from Egypt, went through a security screening at the Kerem Shalom humanitarian crossing in Israel, and then entered Gaza, for distribution by private contractors. As these vital humanitarian supplies made their way toward Gazans in need, thousands of Gazans [rushed] the trucks, some began violently pushing and trampling other Gazans to death, looting the humanitarian supplies.
Here are the facts: At 4:40 a.m., the first aid truck in the humanitarian convoy started making its way through the humanitarian corridor that we were securing. Our tanks were there to secure the humanitarian corridor for the aid convoy. Our UAVs were there in the air to give our forces a clear picture from above. At 4:45 a.m., a mob ambushed the aid trucks, bringing the convoy to a halt.
Hagari also showed a new video of the incident that is included in the Times of Israel story. Hagari’s statement continues:
In this video, the tanks that were there to secure the convoy saw the Gazans being trampled and cautiously tried to disperse the mob with a few warning shots. When the hundreds became thousands and things got out of hand, the tank commander decided to retreat to avoid harm to the thousands of Gazans that were there.
You can see how cautious they were when they were backing up. They were backing up securely, risking their own lives, not shooting at the mob.” he continued…No IDF strike was conducted toward the aid convoy. On the contrary, the IDF was there carrying out a humanitarian aid operation, to secure the humanitarian corridor, and allow the aid convoy to reach its distribution point, so that the humanitarian aid could reach Gazan civilians in the north who are in need.
The IDF posted Hagari’s statement below on X. Video is included with his statement.
“We recognize the suffering of the innocent people of Gaza. This is why we are seeking ways to expand our humanitarian efforts.”
Watch the full statement by IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari on the incident regarding the humanitarian aid convoy the IDF facilitated. pic.twitter.com/m6Pve3Odqw
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 29, 2024
“And yet the lie will be repeated as fact over and over and over by those who are ignorant, and those who are not ignorant but are evil, and those who are Susan Sarandon,” comments Cliff Asness. Add the detestable Senator Elizabeth Warren to the list. Query into which category the AP falls.
Netanyahu & his right-wing government have created a catastrophe in Gaza. Today Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinians desperate for aid.
The U.S. must push for a cease-fire, hostage releases, & condition military support on pursuing a two-state solution for a lasting peace. pic.twitter.com/igeEpeFRC8
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 29, 2024
I can’t wait for the United States Air Force to show us how it’s to be done. If this goes down as advertised, we can resupply Hamas directly.
The U.S. Air Force is reportedly preparing for an Operation beginning next week that will see the Mass Airdropping of Humanitarian Aid including Food, Water, and Medicine into the Gaza Strip, with Flights utilizing C-130 and C-17 Transport Aircraft being launched from Airbases in… pic.twitter.com/ZH7Es0vvoj
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 1, 2024
UPDATE: The Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff includes this account in today’s edition.
After posting the adjacent item on the alleged IDF “massacre” of more than 100 Gazans yesterday, I received the Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff newsletter with this account of the events:
More than 100 people were killed when a crowd converged on an aid convoy in the Gaza Strip on Thursday and in a nearby confrontation between IDF soldiers and Palestinian men, in what an Israeli official with knowledge of the incidents described as a “completely unprecedented” set of events. “We’ve seen big groups of people running toward aid convoys, but nothing on this scale,” the official told Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss.
The convoy that came under the swarm of people was, the official described, “a very properly coordinated aid convoy with local contacts.” As the convoy passed through Gaza City early Thursday morning, thousands of people began to converge on the convoy.
“They literally physically trampled each other and ran over each other and beat each other,” the official continued. “And then Hamas started shooting at them.” The terror group aims to resell some of the convoy’s goods at a high markup, the official said.
“We did not fire at the humanitarian convoy, we secured it,” IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari emphasized in a briefing yesterday evening. “The tanks that were there to secure the convoy saw the Gazans being trampled and cautiously tried to disperse the mob with a few warning shots,” Hagari said. “You can see [in a video released by the IDF] how cautious they were when they were backing up. They were backing up securely, risking their own lives, not shooting at the mob.”
Nearby, a group of IDF soldiers guarding the convoy opened fire on a group of men approaching the battalion. First, the official said, the IDF troops fired in the air to warn the men off, but the men continued running toward the battalion.
An estimated 10 Palestinians were killed in the confrontation with Israeli troops, according to the IDF, and the rest of the casualties were caused by the stampede and confrontation near the convoy.
JI’s Daily Kickoff site is here. This account is included in this morning’s edition (with links).
UPDATE: Times of Israel editor David Horovitz considers the ensuing complications in this column.
President Biden announced today that the United States will airdrop humanitarian aid into Gaza in the coming days. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to those of us who have been following the line traced by the Biden administration, but this may strike some as a bridge too far. The mission will purportedly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, but all sentient observers understand that the it will necessarily make the “assistance” available to Hamas.
Politico reports Biden’s remarks here. The White House has not yet posted a transcript. To add insult to injury, even though he was reading off note cards, Biden confused “Ukraine” with “Gaza.” The guy’s brain is fried in more ways than one.
Biden announces the U.S. is “providing air drops of additional food and supplies” into Ukraine pic.twitter.com/ZZt7LV1EMg
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 1, 2024
STEVE adds: Curious thing, though. A spokesman for Oxfam America has issued a Twitter statement opposing the relief air drop, because the narrative needs to be preserved. At least that’s how I read this:
Yesterday President Biden announced the imminent airdrop of humanitarian assistance into Gaza (Biden to the contrary notwithstanding, not Ukraine). The Times of Israel covers the announcement here.
White House National Security Advisor John Kirby was asked a good question about it at a press briefing that followed the announcement. He was asked how the administration will prevent Hamas from seizing the supplies that it intends to airdrop into Gaza.
Kirby expressed joy to be asked the question, yet for some reason he did not answer it directly. See if you can deduce the answer from his response (video below). These airdrops are complicated. They’re difficult. We’re going to keep at it and we’re going to get better. Hamas, by the way, is a designated foreign terrorist organization and therefore one to which it is illegal for American citizens to render assistance.
John Kirby effectively admits that the White House knows Hamas will steal aid air-dropped into Gaza pic.twitter.com/gzxHnBUpCp
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) March 2, 2024
The airdrop has begun. The Times of Israel reports that US military officials say the initial airdrop was carried out using three C-130 planes. One of the officials says more than 35,000 meals were airdropped. The video below shows the current airdrop to Hamas’s last stronghold in Rafah. According to Barak Ravid, the Rafah airdrop “included thousands of U.S. military ‘meals ready to eat’ (Halal).” The genocidaires of Hamas must be grateful in their own special way.
Update: #IsraelHamasWar #US #Rafah
According to U.S. and Israeli officials, 3 C-130s airdropped aid over the city of Rafah.
In the video that reportedly shows the airdrop, 2 C-130s can be seen with the payload of the third visible in the video. pic.twitter.com/OhyUMWd9z4
— John M. Larrier (@DefenseBulletin) March 2, 2024
In her February 26 Tablet column “The takeover,” Neetu Arnold traces the relationship among international student recruitment, DEI policies, and left-wing activism on American campuses. It is a long column that is full of information and data. This is how it opens:
Something new and peculiar stands out about the wave of anti-Israel student activism that has rocked American university campuses since October: There is a visibly more radical element to these protests. Student activists almost seemed to take glee in Hamas’ massacre of innocent civilians—when they weren’t denying that it happened at all. The antisemitic rage struck a different tone than the typical anti-Israel fare that has become a central part of American student activism since Students for a Democratic Society formed in the 1960s.
So what changed? The answer is clear to anyone who watched the videos: these student protests are no longer composed solely of left-wing American students steeped in critical theory and post-colonial ideology. The protests are now havens for foreign students, especially those from Arab and Muslim countries, with their own set of nationalist and tribal grievances against Israel and the United States. In some cases, such foreign students appear to lead the protests in their pro-terrorism chants—some of which are in Arabic, or translations of Arabic slogans.
What we are witnessing is the latest consequence of a quiet revolution in higher education: the internationalization of the American university. Today, there are more than one million foreign students enrolled at American universities, making up more than 5% of the total student population. At elite universities, the situation is much more extreme: international students make up almost 25% of the student population.
I would add that Arnold’s introductory paragraph seems to me to apply not only to pro-Hamas “activism” on campus, but also to pro-Hamas “activism” on the streets of our major cities and inside the Democratic Party’s left-wing base. Someone needs to undertake the same kind of analysis to the off-campus phenomenon that Arnold does to the on-campus phenomenon. It isn’t pretty and it’s not going away.
That is what Joe Biden demanded of the Israelis, Hamas and representatives of Qatar and Egypt who are trying to broker a cease-fire agreement. As though he were the party in interest. The Telegraph interprets Biden’s motives:
Mr Biden is under major pressure from voters over the US alliance with Israel, and the president was punished at the ballot box by protesting young Democrats in the primaries last week.
So what would a proposed deal look like?
A potential deal could include a six-week pause in fighting, the release of approximately 400 Palestinian prisoners in return for the freeing of 40 Israeli hostages, as well as preparation for a gradual return of Palestinian citizens to the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Why 40 hostages? Why not all of them? Why should Israel even discuss a proposal that does not include a total release of kidnap victims? And how about a Hamas surrender? Normally, when a country starts a war and then loses it, if it wants the fighting to stop it has to surrender. It is bizarre that some people take seriously the idea that Hamas should survive the war it foolishly started.
Happily, Israel has decided not to attend the cease-fire negotiations in Cairo:
Israel will not be sending a negotiating team to Cairo, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Sunday, after receiving an unsatisfactory response from Hamas on the latest framework for a hostage deal hammered out in Paris last weekend.
The Gaza-based terror organization refused to address Jerusalem’s demand to provide a list of living hostages and to lock down how many Palestinian prisoners Israel must release for every hostage freed, added the official.
My guess is that Gaza doesn’t want to provide a list of living kidnap victims because a shocking number have been murdered. In any event, Israel shouldn’t allow Hamas’s transparent diplomatic maneuvering, or hysterical reactions from the Biden administration, to distract It from the total victory it needs to achieve over Gaza.
Reading about the ceasefire negotiations that the ceasefire negotiations with which the Biden administation hopes to engineer a Hamas victory requires a certain kind of immunity to savagery. Hamas seeks to trade kidnapped Israelis for terrorists who can help Hamas finish the task it undertook on October 7. The Hamas terrorists are murderers and genocidaires. The Israelis are, well, you know, Jewish. Hamas seeks ten terrorists in exchange for every kidnapped Israeli and Israel seems okay with the proposition and the ratio.
However, the Israelis declined to show up in Cairo for further negotiations so long as Hamas refuses to provide a list of living kidnap victims. The Israelis assess that 31 of the kidnap victims taken by Hamas on October 7 are now dead. This is either elided in mainstream news accounts or referred to euphemistically as one of the “sticking points.” The Times of Israel summed up the status of negotiations yesterday:
Israel has said that 31 of the 130 hostages held since October 7 are dead. The first phase of the mooted deal is reported to provide for the release of 40 of the living hostages, including women, children, the elderly and the sick, in the course of a six-week truce, and in exchange for some 400 Palestinian security prisoners. The outline reportedly provides for negotiations on the further phased release of the remaining hostages, living and dead, in return for longer pauses in the fighting and many more Palestinian prisoner releases.
On Sunday afternoon, a Hamas official told CNN that the group will not agree to a deal without Israel consenting to an end to the war in Gaza, a non-starter for Israel.
Citing “a highly placed source” in the terror group, CNN reported that the two other areas of disagreement holding up a deal are the withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza, and Gazan civilians being allowed to return to the northern Gaza Strip.
Vice President Harris found this a good time to hammer Israel yesterday in Selma, Alabama (White House transcript here). Israel is apparently responsible for “the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” Why, “just a few days ago, we saw hungry, desperate people approach aid trucks, simply trying to secure food for their families after weeks of nearly no aid reaching Northern Gaza. And they were met with gunfire and chaos.” The savages of Hamas have their allies among the idiots, useful or otherwise, of the Biden administration.
As a guest of the Jewish Community Relations Council I attended a private showing of the atrocity video compiled by the IDF in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre this past December. Several of the clips compiled in the video had previously been posted to social media. The sadistic glee of the Hamas savages is apparent throughout the 45-minute video. They shriek in ecstasy as they perform their barbaric deeds. They take sensual pleasure in committing acts from which we recoil in disgust and horror.
Now Professor Alvin Rosenfeld seeks to capture the Hamas spirit in the Tablet column “Longing for Auschwitz.” What’s it all about? Professor Rosenfeld seems to me to get at the mania that is otherwise beyond our verbal grasp if not our human understanding. This is just the opening slice of his column:
Hamas’s assault on Israelis on October 7th was not an act of war as we normally think of it but something far worse. We don’t have an adequate term for what occurred on that day, so people use words like “terrorism,” “barbarism,” “atrocity,” “depravity,” “massacre,” and so on. All are correct, and yet all fall short of capturing the annihilationist fury set loose at the Nova music festival and in the kibbutzim and small towns of southern Israel. The people attacked in those places were not only to die, but to die in torment. In addition to the merciless torture, killings, slashings, burnings, beheadings, mutilations, dismemberments, and kidnappings, there were gang-rapes and other forms of sadistic sexual assault, including, according to some reports, the cutting off of women’s breasts, nails driven into women’s thighs and groins, bullets fired into their vaginas, and even intercourse with female corpses. Unimaginable? For most normal people, yes. But before going into Israel, the Hamas assassins were instructed to “dirty them” and “whore them.” And that’s precisely what many of them faithfully did.
If it were possible to encapsulate all the evil of that day in a single image, it would be that of the violent seizure of a young Israeli woman, Naama Levy, 19, barefoot, beaten, and bloodied, her hands tied behind her back, the crotch of her sweatpants heavily soiled, possibly from being raped, dragged by her hair at gunpoint into a Hamas car, and driven off to Gaza to suffer an unspeakable fate among her captors there.Her assailants filmed every second of her ordeal; and as one watches the clips of her being taken away, one sees crowds nearby loudly shouting “Allah-hu Akbar” – “Allah is the greatest”—a victory cry that offers religious sanction to the malign treatment of Naama Levy and countless others seized, slaughtered, and abducted on that horrific day.
All wars cause human suffering, but the cruelties visited upon Israelis on October 7th far surpasses what normally happens when armies go to war. Hamas’s actions had a different aim: not conquest but the purposeful humiliation of Jews by people who detest them and were sworn to degrade and dehumanize them before murdering them. For those familiar with Jewish history, the mass violence enacted against Jews in Kishinev in 1903 came instantly to mind, as did the Farhoud in Iraq in 1941 and Chmielnicki’s savage decimation of Ukrainian Jewish communities in the mid-17th century. With memories of those earlier massacres newly revived, October 7th instantly evoked the word “pogrom.” With cause. But how could such a catastrophe occur in today’s Israel? The country’s military has been hailed as one of the strongest in the world and was regarded as invincible. And yet on October 7th, it failed to protect its southern border and prevent the ruthless assault on Jews in the Gaza envelope. Responding to Hamas’s bloody deeds, one Israeli woman summed up the reactions of virtually every Jew in the country and millions of others abroad when she said, simply and incontrovertibly, “Every Israeli’s worst nightmares have come true.”
October 7th, 2023 was the most destructive day of mass violence against Jews since the end of the Holocaust. The carnage carried out on that day, far from being a by-product of war, was a religiously sanctioned, orgiastic display of unrestrained Jew-hatred. One cannot begin to understand it if one ignores the Hamas Charter and other Islamist teachings that make Hamas the organization it is and inspires it to do what it does.
Hamas originates as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. It is and always has been a jihadist organization, which sees the existence of the State of Israel as an intolerable intrusion into the Domain of Islam (“dar al-islam”) and is committed to removing Israel by whatever means necessary. The preamble to the Hamas Charter declares that “Israel exists and will continue to exist until Islam obliterates it, just as it obliterated others before it.” The “Palestinian problem,” it affirms, “is a religious problem” and is not amenable to a negotiated political settlement. The only way to “raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine” is through “jihad,” a holy war that is a “duty for every Muslim wherever he may be.”
After watching the atrocity video, I wondered: Has Dementia Joe or blind Tony Blinken seen this? (Kelly Jane Torrance reported in her New York Post column on it that Biden has seen it.) If so, what are they doing hectoring Israel, yammering about a two-state solution, and disparaging a country acting in self-defense while in the throes of a crisis that goes to its reason for being? If that’s the best they can do, why won’t they shut up?
The “solution” is part of the problem. A people must have civilized norms and civil institutions on which to predicate a state. It can’t be created ex nihilo or ex worse than nothing.
Israel exists as a homeland and refuge for the Jewish people. The events of October 7 belie its reason for being. In other words, it won’t remain a refuge if Israelis aren’t safe from such atrocities in their homeland. Thus the war on Hamas in which it is currently engaged. Israel, by the way, also has to contend with Iranian proxies including Hezbollah and the Houthis as well as Iran itself. The day of reckoning is coming.
No government freely elected by the people of Israel can tolerate what Israel withstood on October 7. There can be no return to the status quo ante or its functional equivalent under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority, whose president for life himself supports terrorism with funds generously provided by his supporters among the Biden administration and elsewhere.
Israel’s war on Hamas has had several side effects. One such is the exposure of UNRWA a functional arm of Hamas. As Michael Rubin puts it:
The rot surrounding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East keeps accumulating. Not only did the UNRWA allow Hamas command posts under local hospitals and the UNRWA’s own headquarters, but UNRWA employees hid weaponry in their homes and then reportedly participated in the Oct. 7 kidnappings in Israel. Some employees held Israeli civilians hostage in the aftermath of the mass kidnapping. Israel alleges that 10% of UNRWA employees are Hamas members, a figure that, if anything, seems low.
Yesterday the IDF played a recording of an UNRWA employee boasting about kidnapping an Israeli woman on October 7. The UNRWA employee is only one of several hundred UNRWA employees in Gaza who are operatives in Gaza terrorist groups. Yesterday IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari held a press briefing to play the recording. Here is his introduction to it:
The information that I am about to share is distressing and some people may find it triggering, but we have an obligation to share the truth about what happened on October 7th, 150 days ago. We have a duty to expose the truth about those who took part in this brutal massacre.
Today, we are declassifying a call that we intercepted, made by Yusef Zidan Salimam Al-Khuairl, a Hamas terrorist who took part in the massacre of October 7th.
But he is not just a Hamas terrorist, he is also an UNRWA employee working as a teacher in a UN elementary school in Gaza.
The terrorist is heard speaking on the phone roughly 7 hours after Hamas began invading Israel:
Murdering; mutilating; massacring; kidnapping; raping; and burning entire families alive.On the call, you can hear him bragging about the Sabaya is a female captive that he got his hands on.
He’s talking about one of our girls. He is talking about one of the women. The term “SABAYA” used by this UNRWA worker is an Arabic term, meaning ‘female captive’ with a possession, a possession of a captor.
“Sabaya” is exactly the same word used by ISIS to describe the Yazidi women they captured, and did horrific things to.
I want you to listen to the conversation, I want you to hear the tone… how they brag…how they laugh…how they talk about women…How they call her a “noble horse”…
Listen.
The IDF has posted text and video of the briefing here. Below is the video.
Below is the recording of the call Hagari plays in the briefing. “Listen.”
This is an @UNRWA teacher.
This is a proud @UN employee.
This man's paycheque is paid by YOUR taxes.
This is a man sharing his successes.
This is a man who sees women as #sabaya, the term ISIS used for slaves.
This is the terrorism of #October7massacre
This is UNRWA… pic.twitter.com/VcPOkz49Yf— Lt. Col. (R) Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) March 4, 2024
Via Richard Kemp/X.
JOHN adds: the UN is a hopelessly corrupt and immoral organization. We should get out.
Politico reports that President Biden has a big announcement to make tonight. During his State of the Union address, he will order the military to establish a temporary port in Gaza so more humanitarian aid can get to Palestinians in need. Enough with the airdrops, or to supplement the airdrops. We’re going in big time to keep Hamas in business.
It’s not clear to me if this slam comes from the administration sources briefing Politico, but it sounds like it: “The U.S. is resorting to this military mission because Israel isn’t letting in enough aid to alleviate the humanitarian crisis caused by the Israel-Hamas war plaguing 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza.”
And then we have this: “Planning for the maritime corridor [to supply the port] still faces many execution challenges, namely how to offload, secure and distribute the aid.” Hamas will lend a hand. Of that we can be sure.
They are still working out the details, but you can’t be too cynical: “Arguably the hardest part is dispersing the aid throughout the whole of Gaza. The multinational coalition will rely on the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and other groups to ensure the assistance gets to the right places.” It’s good to know they will have the friends of Hamas within the UN on board with the plan. It only makes sense.
How do you say gag me with a spoon in Arabic?
In the video clip from his interview with Jonathan Capehart below, President Biden explains why Hamas wants a ceasefire. He forgets that he’s not supposed to explain how it promotes their goals. He seeks to backtrack but can’t figure out how, except by falsely implying that Israel is violating the laws of war. What a disgrace.
Watch Biden say the quiet part out loud. This is actually kind of amazing. Perhaps Prime Minister Netanyahu will find it of use in the “come to Jesus” meeting with which Biden is threatening him.
Biden makes the blunder of answering whether and why Hamas would want a ceasefire.
He then notices his terrible blunder in saying the truth, and goes off on a tangent. pic.twitter.com/ypqX7H8D6o
— David Shor (@DYShor) March 10, 2024
It turns out that President Biden has a red line. It applies to Israel. In an unlocked story, the Wall Street Journal reports that “Biden Warns Netanyahu an Assault on Rafah Would Cross ‘Red Line.’”
Biden apparently seeks to depose the Netanyahu government. He thinks that Netanyahu is the problem. He also seeks to preserve Hamas. He finds them easier to deal with than Netanyahu. Biden’s daycare minders in the White House may indeed be malevolent or stupid enough to believe these propositions. They certainly explain a lot. They explain what Biden meant about having a “come to Jesus” meeting with Netanyahu. The animus behind that statement is patent. Now we see what Biden had in “mind,” so to speak. Israel does not fit comfortably inside what the Democrats are pleased to refer to as “our democracy.”
Biden and his minders purport to understand Israel’s national security interests better than the Israelis. The Daily Mail reports “Biden Administration consulted Israel expert on how to ‘force the Netanyahu coalition to collapse’ as president accuses the prime minster of ‘hurting Israel more than helping’ and insists Rafah invasion is ‘red line’ that must not be crossed.” The headline says it all.
Politico reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu sees things slightly differently. When asked whether Israeli forces would move into Rafah in an interview on Sunday, Netanyahu replied: “We’ll go there. We’re not going to leave. You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is, that October 7 doesn’t happen again. Never happens again.”
It may be time to revisit Robert Gates’s assessment of Biden’s foreign policy chops: “I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” Gates made that assessment in 2014. It therefore predates Biden’s Afghanistan, Ukraine, Iran and other debacles. We can now revise Gates’s assessment to the past five decades.
The Biden administration now distinguishes between Israel’s democracy and the people who elected it. While I cannot defend all of our government’s policies, I will absolutely defend the democracy that elected it. Our democratic ally must respect that. https://t.co/8z5MJQgqIz
— Michael Oren (@DrMichaelOren) March 10, 2024
President Biden’s animus against Israel was patent in his State of the Union Address this past Thursday evening. The White House has posted the text of his remarks as given here.
JNS editor Jonathan Tobin sets forth a rounded view of “the moral failure” of Biden’s remarks on Israel. Tobin separately addresses and elaborates on Biden’s demands on Israel, the floating harbor for Hamas, the two-state final solution, the lack of any statement on the explosion of anti-Semitism in the United States, and the appeasement of Israel haters. We have noted these deficiencies in our own way, but nothing said here does justice to the points that Tobin makes.
NRO’s Philip Klein characterized the SOTU as “the most anti-Israel presidential speech in history.” Klein posted his comments in a hot take on the evening of Biden’s speech. Among other things, he notes that “[a]fter a perfunctory mention of October 7 and the hostages, Biden then launched an extended attack on Israel’s response to the war and the conditions in Gaza that accepted, whole cloth, Hamas casualty figures that his own administration had previously questioned as unreliable.”
We have noted this point as well. Biden and others in the administration have adopted the numbers retailed by the Gaza Ministry of Health — i.e., Hamas. It represents their adoption of the Hamas point of view.
What’s wrong with this picture? Hamas is not known for the accuracy of its statements of fact. Hamas, for example, does not distinguish between the deaths of civilians and Hamas genocidaires. The Gaza Ministry of Health promotes a line that supports Hamas’s war aims.
Biden hectors Israel. He repeatedly implies that Israel violates the laws of war. This is another lie that promotes Hamas’s war aims. As Israel sacrifices the safety of its soldiers to protect civilians intentionally placed in harm’s way by Hamas, it is perversely false.
In the State of the Union Biden asserted: “More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed — [AUDIENCE MEMBER: Says who?] — most of whom are not Hamas. Thousands and thousands of innocents — women and children. Girls and boys also orphaned.”
Abraham Wyner homes in on the casualty numbers in the Tablet column “How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers.” Subhead: “The evidence is in their own poorly fabricated figures.”
Wyner, by the way, is Professor of Statistics and Data Science at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Faculty Co-Director of the Wharton Sports Analytics and Business Initiative. He knows what he is talking about. His column is worth your time, but Biden et al. don’t need his analysis. As Klein implies, they know it’s true. They lie without a conscience.
Wyner introduces his analysis this way (emphasis in original):
The number of civilian casualties in Gaza has been at the center of international attention since the start of the war. The main source for the data has been the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, which now claims more than 30,000 dead, the majority of which it says are children and women. Recently, the Biden administration lent legitimacy to Hamas’ figure. When asked at a House Armed Services Committee hearing last week how many Palestinian women and children have been killed since Oct. 7, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the number was “over 25,000.” The Pentagon quickly clarified that the secretary “was citing an estimate from the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.” President Biden himself had earlier cited this figure, asserting that “too many, too many of the over 27,000 Palestinians killed in this conflict have been innocent civilians and children, including thousands of children.” The White House also explained that the president “was referring to publicly available data about the total number of casualties.”
Here’s the problem with this data: The numbers are not real. That much is obvious to anyone who understands how naturally occurring numbers work. The casualties are not overwhelmingly women and children, and the majority may be Hamas fighters.
If Hamas’ numbers are faked or fraudulent in some way, there may be evidence in the numbers themselves that can demonstrate it. While there is not much data available, there is a little, and it is enough: From Oct. 26 until Nov. 10, 2023, the Gaza Health Ministry released daily casualty figures that include both a total number and a specific number of women and children.
The first place to look is the reported “total” number of deaths. The graph of total deaths by date is increasing with almost metronomical linearity, as the graph in Figure 1 reveals….
Wyner persuasively establishes that “the Hamas ministry settled on a daily total arbitrarily.” See Figure 1 and other graphs along with the rest of the column here (data posted here).
JOHN adds: Abraham Wyner testified as an expert witness on behalf of the defendants in the Michael Mann v. Mark Steyn case. We saw his testimony when we were in D.C. for the trial. Wyner presented a statistical analysis that showed that Mann’s famous hockey stick graph was, in fact, fraudulent. His analysis was persuasive and Wyner was a great witness, but unfortunately neither his testimony nor the other evidence presented by defendants was enough to overcome the decades of propaganda that underlie climate hysteria. At least, not with a D.C. jury.
President Biden apparently thinks the IDF should observe Ramadan as it seeks to eliminate the genocidaires of Hamas. By contrast, the genocidaires of Hamas find Jewish holidays the right time to do their thing. It’s enough to make a sane man vomit.
Wall Street Journal letters editor Elliot Kaufman is not too choked up about Biden’s Ramadan recess. His column on the subject is datelined Tel Aviv and runs with the headline “Hamas’s ‘Operation Ramadan’—and Ours.”
The headline works a witty variation on the title of Norman Podhoretz’s classic Commentary essay “My Negro Problem–and Ours.” By the same token, it could have been headlined “My Biden Problem–and Ours.” However, it would require more than 800 words to lay it out. It would take a book.
Elliot’s column is behind the Journal’s paywall. Here is the heart of it:
There is an idea that it is wrong to fight an Islamic country during the holy month of Ramadan, which this year starts Sunday night. It’s nonsense: Look at Egypt and Syria’s 1973 Ramadan War against Israel or Iran’s 1982 Operation Ramadan against Iraq. Conversations with senior Israeli political, military and legal officials, however, suggest that the taboo is a weapon—and every player in the Gaza war has an Operation Ramadan of its own.
For more than a month, the Biden administration has set the start of Ramadan as the deadline for a deal to release Israeli hostages and stop the war. “There’s got to be a cease-fire because Ramadan,” the president said Tuesday. “If we get into circumstances where this continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous.” The danger, in his formulation, is all on the Israeli side, so Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had better cut a deal.
Israel’s leaders lamented privately that every day in February and early March seemed to bring a new U.S. shot across Israel’s bow—an unprecedented sanctions regime; new strings attached to weapons transfers; Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call for a “timebound, irreversible path to a Palestinian state”; a turn against the war effort, which Mr. Biden called “over the top”; loud opposition to an offensive in Rafah, now termed a “red line”; a new policy deeming all settlements illegal; blame pinned on Israel for humanitarian aid problems; calls for an “immediate cease-fire”; and leaks that the U.S. could demand its weapons not be used in Rafah.
Meanwhile, the president no longer speaks about defeating Hamas, let alone destroying it. Victory is off his list of priorities—and Israelis worry that Mr. Biden is the most pro-Israel member of his administration. Where American words gave Israelis succor after Oct. 7, they now confound and demoralize the country. According to a senior Israeli official, Mr. Blinken “says it right in your face: ‘You can’t win.’ ”
This was America’s Operation Ramadan: Spook and threaten Israel into accepting a hostage deal that would end the war much sooner than Mr. Netanyahu wants, because victory is unattainable anyway.
The administration misread Israel. Its pressure tactics have allowed Mr. Netanyahu to rally even his rivals around his positions on Rafah and against unilateral U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state, an idea Israelis find criminally insane right now. The prime minister’s chief opponent, Benny Gantz, has publicly agreed with him on both, and reportedly told U.S. officials that “finishing the war without demilitarizing Rafah is like sending in firefighters to put out 80% of a fire.” As retired Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, head of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, tells me, “All the Hamas leaders are there. All the hostages are there. The fighters, the munitions—they’re in Rafah.”
It may not exactly fit the IDF’s timetable, but taking Rafah for Ramadan would be the right way to observe the holiday this year.
President Biden is reportedly “thinking” about imposing conditions on military aid to Israel if the IDF assault on Hamas’s redoubt in Rafah proceeds as planned. Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke by video to AIPAC’s annual policy conference in Washington. Netanyahu’s office has posted the video clip below on X and a six-minute video here on YouTube (with an echo for the first minute).
The Prime Minister’s Office has posted Netanyahu’s text here along with these further remarks in a Churchillian vein:
Some people would make you believe that the people of Israel are disunited. In fact, some people would have you believe there is the prime minister and then there is the people of Israel.
The truth of the matter is that the people of Israel overwhelmingly support the policies set forth by myself and my government. They overwhelmingly support the need for total victory. Overwhelmingly. They overwhelmingly oppose the idea of having a Palestinian state rammed down our throat.
We just had a vote in the Knesset, to illustrate the point I just made, 99 to 9 supporting this position. And you know what? It’s not irrational. It’s because they think that giving now a Palestinian state after the October 7th massacre will be the greatest reward for terrorism in modern times.
They overwhelmingly reject the idea that we should implant, after we’ve destroyed Hamas in Gaza, the PA that still inculcates its children towards terrorism and the annihilation of Israel. They want a future of peace, a future of security that is purchased by a resounding victory.
And as I say, the possibilities for this victory, the possibilities that are opened up are immense but they require that one word: victory. And I will repeat it again, victory, victory, victory. No substitute for that and we will achieve it together.
Netanyahu knows he represents the consensus of Israeli popular opinion on this point and he gives no sign of backing down.
We will finish the job. Watch my speech at the AIPAC policy conference >> pic.twitter.com/QvPEyzfQvc
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) March 12, 2024
The Biden administration obviously seeks to depose the government of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. The administration has released our intelligence community’s assessment that Netanyahu’s “viability as a leader” is “in jeopardy,” according to the annual report on the national security threats facing the United States that was presented to Congress on Monday. I assess that the wish is father to the thought.
The assessment provides: “Distrust of Netanyahu’s ability to rule has deepened and broadened across the public from its already high levels before the war, and we expect large protests demanding his resignation and new elections,” according to the report. “A different, more moderate government is a possibility.” I assess that the wish is father to the thought and that the assessment bears the trademark of “Our Democracy.”
Netanyahyu’s voice can be heard in the response attributed to a “very senior” Israeli official in a statement issued to the media: “Those who elect the prime minister of Israel are the citizens of Israel and no one else. Israel is not a protectorate of the US but an independent and democratic country whose citizens are the ones who elect the government. We expect our friends to act to overthrow the terror regime of Hamas and not the elected government in Israel.”
The intelligence community could not be reached for comment.
Dennis Ross is a scholar and diplomat of unmatched experience in the vagaries of “the peace process.” His 2005 memoir The Missing Peace: Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace runs to 880 closely printed pages. He served in both the Bush (41) and Clinton administrations. He also served as special assistant to President Obama and worked on National Security Council in both the Reagan and Obama administrations. He currently serves as a distinguished fellow on the U.S.-Israel strategic relationship at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. His impressive Washington Institute profile is posted here.
On a personal note, I would like to add this. When I was working on the 2007 Weekly Standard article “How Arafat got away with murder,” I caught Ambassador Ross by telephone in his office late on a Friday afternoon. He was on his way out the door and didn’t know me from Adam, yet he took my question and responded as quoted in the article. He seemed to me a straightforward and decent gentleman.
Ross was invited by the MIT Jewish Alumni Alliance to speak at MIT’s “Standing Together Against Hate” program launched in the aftermath of the the October 7 massacre. MIT president Sally Kornbluth trumpeted the program as an effort aimed at “community building.” She put MIT chancellor Melissa Nobles in charge.
A Hamas apologist is scheduled to speak at MIT as part of the program on March 18. Jewish alumni reached out to Ross and confirmed his willingness to participate in the program’s speaker series. When attempts were made to move forward, however, program planners informed the alumni that Ross is not an appropriate speaker because they deem him “a politician.” The alumni group has posted its March 12 open letter to Kornbluth here.
The Washington Free Beacon’s Jessica Costescu now takes a deep dive into the story under the headline “MIT Refused To Host Dennis Ross. It Invited a Hamas Apologist Instead.” Subhead: “Dalia Mogahed, who described Hamas terrorism as legal ‘resistance,’ slated to speak as a part of MIT’s ‘Standing Against Hate’ Initiative.”
What’s the trouble with Dennis Ross? It’s not that he is a politician. He has never run for office:
Like Ross, Mogahed has served as a presidential adviser, albeit to fewer presidents and in more junior roles. She served as an adviser to former president Barack Obama in the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
For Matthew Handel and Lori Ullman, two Jewish Alumni Alliance members, MIT’s refusal to host Ross—and its excuse for excluding him—are insulting.
“It’s already patronizing for anyone to say we’re at MIT, so we think we’re smarter than you,” Handel, who co-founded the group, told the Free Beacon. “It’s beyond arrogant that they would say, ‘We work at MIT, so as MIT alums, we’re smarter than you; MIT students, we’re smarter than you; Congress, we’re smarter than you.'”
Costescu gives the reader everything he might need to understand the story and the actual trouble with Ross, including this valuable note: “MIT did not return a request for comment.”
In a long speech on the floor yesterday Senate Majority Chuck Schumer called for the replacement of the current Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Times of Israel has posted the full text of Schumer’s remarks here. According to Schumer, Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace, the two-state final solution, and the Big Rock Candy Mountain. We must popularize the phrase “He doesn’t know Schumer from Shinola.”
Jonathan Tobin places Schumer in the context of his career to date: “He’s been in public office continuously since the age of 25, and the 73-year-old Senate Majority Leader has spent his adult life grandstanding for the cameras and the press while always seeking some momentary political advantage as he schemed, back-stabbed and bloviated his way to the top of his profession.”
We can infer that Schumer now approves of foreign interference in another country’s elections. Only yesterday that was a big no-no for purported thought leaders toeing the Democrat Party line.
In this case the government Schumer seeks the replacement of a government that was democratically elected and formed by a close American ally fighting for its life under extremely difficult circumstances. That’s no way to treat a friend.
Schumer pretends that the relevant policies of the Netanyahu government are peculiar to Netanyahu and his coalition. That does not seem to be the case.
Schumer gives aid and comfort to Hamas and its friends in the Democratic Party. We can infer that the obstacle posed by Netanyahu is to the political objectives of the Democratic Party as conceived by President Biden.
Biden has just renewed his sanctions waiver on $10 billion held for the genocidaires of Iran. See Richard Goldberg’s New York Post column “Biden continues Iran’s access to $10 billion just weeks after its proxy killed three American soldiers.” Biden — he doesn’t know Schumer from Shinola.
One has to wonder about the impact of Schumer’s speech in Israel. It can’t help but demoralize Israelis fighting for their lives. However, they are unlikely to think they need Schumer’s help to assess their own best interests. In articulating and pursuing Israel’s war aims, Netanyahu speaks for the people of Israel. They do not support surrender to Hamas or adoption of the two-state final solution.
Senator Tom Cotton has posted a statement responding to Schumer. Senator Cotton sees the unstated obstacle Schumer is addressing: “[T]he main elections that worry Chuck Schumer aren’t Israel’s but our elections because the rampant antisemitism that the Democratic Party has allowed to fester in its ranks is massively unpopular with the pro-Israel American public.” Senator Cotton adds this “come to Jesus” element to his statement for Schumer’s benefit: “Chuck Schumer should remove the log in his own party’s eye before he whines about the speck in Israel’s eye.”
President Biden has turned on Israel. He and his brain trust support the survival of Hamas. It’s a big-time sell-out. The cover of the current issue of England’s Economist depicts Israel Alone (cover story here behind the Economist paywall). It reminded me of the time when England stood alone against a genocidal maniac — alone against “the insane tyrant,” as Leo Strauss referred to Hitler in his tribute to Churchill — though the thought appears not to have crossed the mind of the Economist.
The IDF has yet to complete its mission in Gaza. Yesterday IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari conducted a briefing on the IDF’s return to Shifa Hospital to root out a large band of terrorists that had come to think of the place as home. Hagari conducted the briefing in Hebrew, but the video below superimposes the English translation, which the IDF has also posted here. This is the text per the IDF:
Good evening.
The operation at the Shifa Hospital continues. This is the operation with the largest aggregation of terrorists we have apprehended since the beginning of the war. So far, we have apprehended over 500 suspects, 358 of which are Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.
They are surrendering, we are interrogating them, and they are providing us with very valuable and important intelligence.We apprehended the chain of command of the Islamic Jihad, including:
1. Muhammad Jundia – Commander of the Shejaiya Battalion of the Islamic Jihad and the Deputy Commander of the terrorist organization’s Northern Brigade
2. Samir Ziad Abd Abu Odeh – Commander of the Al-Shati sector in the rocket unit of the Islamic Jihad.
3. Ahmad Samara – responsible for tunnels and underground terror infrastructure of the Islamic Jihad in the Northern Gaza Strip.We apprehended senior Hamas figures, including:
1. Hamdallah Ali and Omar Azida– Azida, a senior official in the West Bank Headquarters, responsible for directing Hamas terrorist activity in the area of Nablus. Ali, who advanced Hamas activity in the Qalqilya area. The two are senior officials in the West Bank Headquarters of Hamas, they acted within their roles to advance terrorist attacks from Judea and Samaria, directed the transfer of weapons and funds to terrorists. This group operated under Saleh al-Arouri.
2. Mahmoud Kwasma – an operative in the Hamas West Bank Headquarters, planned and financed the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in 2014, Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrach, may their memory be a blessing.In addition, we apprehended additional senior officials in Hamas’ Internal Security forces. Many terrorists in Shifa, especially from the Islamic Jihad, surrendered to our forces. This is a very hard blow to the Islamic Jihad – many of its operatives in the north, who are the majority of its significant operatives, either surrendered or were eliminated in the operation so far. With a number of them, we exchanged fire until they surrender or are eliminated.
During the last 24 hours, we entered the Qatari Building [in the Shifa compound]. This is a building that we also operated in during the previous operation in Shifa. This time, terrorists were hiding there. Shayetet 13 searched the building. During the scans on the basement floor, they encountered a terrorist cell. Our soldiers eliminated the terrorists without our forces being harmed. In another battle, another terrorist surrendered; after these battles, several terrorists surrendered. Among them are very senior officials – I still cannot publish their identities because they hold significant intelligence – after we finish interrogating them and find the intelligence with them, we will publish the identities of these terrorists. Senior Hamas officials understand well the significance of the operation and as the picture of the apprehended and of the eliminated terrorists becomes clearer – the pressure on them will increase.
At the beginning of the war, we destroyed the underground infrastructure dug under the hospital, and we confiscated military equipment and weapons hidden in it. The terrorists’ command center at the Shifa Hospital was dealt with then. The terrorists fled in the previous operation when we called to evacuate the compound.
This time we operated differently. This time we operated by surprise. We raided the compound by surprise. The operation, led by the 162nd Division and carried out by special forces units led by Shayetet 13, in full cooperation on the ground, shoulder to shoulder with the ISA and Unit 504 for intelligence extraction in the field. We used deception tactics in this operation, and it was this that led to the success and apprehension of all 358 terrorists and there are more still inside this compound who haven’t managed to escape. This led to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad being severely damaged as a result of the operation. Those who did not surrender to our forces fought against our forces and were eliminated. Among them also the head of the Special Operations Directorate of Hamas’ General Security – who chose to fight against our forces openly and our forces eliminated him.
The fighting continues inside the hospital buildings – inside the buildings at the hospital. There are Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists who decided to barricade themselves – they are currently barricading themselves in the area of the emergency room. At this stage, we are evacuating the patients – there are about 220 patients there – to another building. We are creating infrastructure for them, with appropriate medical equipment so that all the patients and doctors can be safe. For the past 24 hours, we continue to call upon the terrorists in the building to surrender, those who surrender will stay alive, those who do not we will fight against until we eliminate them.
Even at these hours, our soldiers are scanning the buildings, evacuating the wounded, and continuing to operate in the compound. There will be more ongoing combat here – there will be several more days to this operation.
Last night, when we visited the soldiers in the field during the operation, from all the special units – as I said, the Commander of Shayetet 13 briefed us, but there was also the ISA, also Unit 504 and also the senior command that came with us to the field. They told us something very very important – they emphasized to us, the soldiers and the commanders, that they will do everything necessary in this operation or another in order to bring about the release of the hostages. They emphasized – this is the most important thing to us.
We do not forget that in Gaza there are 134 hostages. It is our duty to continue and make every operational and intelligence effort, and also in negotiations, in order to bring them back home. This is what we are doing, and this is what we will continue to do. This is our responsibility.
I want to also send encouragement this evening to the families of the hostages. You and your loved ones are with us all the time.
Hagari’s remarks convey a seriousness and dignity in the face of a barbarous enemy. It is a seriousness and dignity that is conspicuous by its absence in the Biden administration.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari delivered a speech in which he confirmed 600 arrested and over 140 terrorists killed in the Al-Shifa operation pic.twitter.com/g2RDbl8qcH
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) March 21, 2024
Robert Satloff is executive director of the Washington Institute. He took issue with the December 2 Washington Post story “Israel’s assault forced a nurse to leave babies behind. They were found decomposing.” Satloff deconstructed the Post story in the 5,000-word critique “Once Again, a ‘Palestinian Babies Story Merits a Washington Post Apology.”
Satloff’s critique elicited a response from Post executive editor Sally Buzbee. She stands by the Post’s story and demands that Satloff clean up his critique. Satloff publishes Buzbee’s response in his disappointed postscript “Sadly, WaPost Admits No Error in Story Filled with Them.”
This episode had me thinking back to my own examination of the Post’s reporting in this vein on Israel’s 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense. Mr. Satloff, I see your 5,000 words and raise you 5,000 words. I wrote several posts and well over 5,000 words on the story featuring the aptly named Jihad Masharawi. Forgive me for saying that those posts have stood the test of time! As the song goes, “same as it ever was.” I have retrieved this March 11, 2013 post from our archives.
* * * * *
I wrote about the photograph of BBC Arabic editor Jihad Masharawi holding the shrouded body of his 11-month-old son, Omar, in posts here, here, here and here. The photograph depicted Masharawi outside Shifa Hospital in Gaza City early in Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense. The young Masharawi’s death was attributed to an Israeli airstrike.
The photograph went viral on the second day of the conflict between Hamas and Israel, being featured on the Web and in newspapers around the world. One such among many was the Washington Post, which ran it at the top of page one. The photo is below.
Washington Post ombdudsman Patrick Pexton devoted a column to complaints about the photograph. Paul Mirengoff explicated the manifest animus in Pexton’s column.
Everything Pexton asserted directly or indirectly as a matter of fact was wrong. When a major newspaper ombudsman is this utterly clueless, who ya gonna call? Not Ghostbusters. Power Line, I guess.
Paul Danahar is the BBC Middle East Bureau Chief and Masharawi’s colleague. He spent much of the day at Masharawi’s house on the day on the day Masharawi’s son was killed, tweeting a photo of the hole in the roof of Masharawi’s house. The house wasn’t bombed, Pexton to the contrary notwithstanding. Danahar described the munition that did the damage as a “shell.”
I tweeted Danahar to ask him on what basis he identified the munition as Israeli. I wrote at the time on Power Line that I doubted it was. I thought it was more likely to have been a Hamas rocket that failed to hit its intended target in Israel. (As I recall, something like 10 percent of the Hamas rockets landed in Gaza.) Danahar failed to respond to my tweet, although he relentlessly propagated the line that Israeli forces had killed Masharawi’s son.
Everything about the photograph looked phony to me. Was Masharawi sobbing? His face doesn’t even look like he has shed tears. Masharawi looks like he’s enacting grief. I understand that Masharawi in fact lost his son as a result of the munition that hit his house, but I found the photo odd (as I did the other photos in the series of Masharawi parading around for the cameras).
I thought that Masharawi was engaging in an opportunistic bit of Terrorist Theater, the kind I wrote about in the Weekly Standard article “He didn’t give at the office.” The article demonstrates how news service stringers in Gaza work as an arm of the terrorist authorities on whom they purport to report. By the way, the staged photos of Arafat that I wrote about in the Standard article were the work of an AP stringer. The photo of Masharawi that the Post ran was credited to the AP.
Terrorist Theater is a function of the sinister authority wielded by terrorist forces in the areas where they hold sway. Gaza is of course under the thumb of Hamas, one such terrorist power.
We held that the death of Masharawi’s son was a tragedy and offered our condolences to Masharawi on the loss of his son. We acknowledged that we didn’t know to a certainty what had happened or who is responsible for the death, and therefore asked readers to keep an open mind.
I hope you will forgive me for rehearsing what must seem like ancient history, but it really is necessary to put this report in context, as they say: “UN clears Israel of charge it killed baby in Gaza.” The Times of Israel has the story, based on this UN report:
United Nations report cleared Israel in the death of the infant son of a BBC employee during Operation Pillar of Defense in November, instead fingering a misfired Palestinian rocket for the tragedy.
The November 14 strike left 11-month-old Omar Jihad al-Mishrawi and Hiba Aadel Fadel al-Mishrawi, 19, dead. The death of Omar, the son of BBC Arabic journalist Jihad al-Mishrawi, garnered more than usual media attention and focused anger for the death on Israel, which was initially blamed for the death.
Rather, the report suggests, a 19-year-old woman and a baby were hit by shrapnel from a rocket fired by Palestinians that was aimed at Israel, but missed its mark.
Omar is dead, and Hamas killed him, but both Jihad and jihad live, and the BBC and the Washington Post among others are their willing tools.
Joe Biden turning against Israel puts Scott “in mind of the time when England stood alone against a genocidal maniac.” That was the time when Hitler’s National Socialist regime was allied with Stalin’s Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. They signed their Pact on August 23, 1939, and Stalin began handing Jews directly to the Gestapo. In September, 1939, both powers invaded Poland, effectively starting World War II.
In November, 1939, Stalin invaded Finland and in April of 1940 Hitler invaded Denmark and Norway. On May 10, 1940, Hitler invaded France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The genocidal maniac then turned his sights on England, standing alone during the Stalin-Hitler Pact. The American Communists, then collaborating with the pro-Nazi German-American Bund, picketed the White House to keep America out of the conflict, and fomented strikes in defense industries.
In the Battle of Britain (July 10, 1940 – October 31, 1940), England got some help from unofficial sources. Fliers from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Rhodesia, Belgium, France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and even the USA, threw in with the Royal Air Force. As the Imperial War Museum explains:
Germany’s failure to defeat the RAF and secure control of the skies over southern England made invasion all but impossible. British victory in the Battle of Britain was decisive, but ultimately defensive in nature – in avoiding defeat, Britain secured one of its most significant victories of the Second World War. It was able to stay in the war and lived to fight another day.
In the style of John Lennon, “imagine” if the American president had been sending millions of dollars in cash to the Nazi regime. Imagine if the American president told Churchill to back off his military campaigns. Imagine if the American president and prominent senators had called for an election to remove Winston Churchill, and so on. Had such moves taken place, England might not have lived on to fight another day. The parallels are lost on Joe Biden, who in a 2020 debate said “Hitler invaded Europe,” like something from the drunk at the end of the bar.
As Scott notes, Biden and his brain trust “support the survival of Hamas,” genocidal maniacs pushing for a second Holocaust. The History of Jihad author Robert Spencer has thoughts on what this might mean for America:
What do Biden regime apparatchiks think will happen if Hamas defeats Israel and survives this war? Do they think that the jihadis will be so overflowing with gratitude to the U.S. that they won’t ever strike Americans or U.S. interests? They’re in for a rude surprise.
It is widely believed that Joe Biden’s anti-Israel, pro-Hamas policy is driven by his desperate need to carry Michigan if he is to have any hope of re-election. That seems like a reasonable assumption, although, to be fair, it is also possible that he shares his old boss’s anti-Israel animus. But here is another one:
Scoop: The US has urged Ukraine to halt attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, warning senior SBU and GUR officials that drone strikes risk driving up global oil prices and provoking retaliation.
w/ @hallbenjamin @felschwartz @mylesmccormick_ https://t.co/DRussu4cAs via @FT— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) March 22, 2024
Biden’s team knows that Americans have had about all the Bidenflation they can stand, and a spike in energy prices between now and November could well doom Joe’s chances. Would Biden be willing to throw the Ukrainians under the bus, along with the Israelis, to improve his odds? I think we all know the answer to that one.
The Times of Israel provides updates on Palestinian casualties according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, but suggests that skepticism is warranted. Indeed, the Ministry of Health is best understood as the functional equivalent of the Ministry of Truth (“Minitrue”) conceived by George Orwell in 1984, i.e., the ministry of propaganda.
In its update on Palestinian casualties in Gaza today, the Times of Israel states the numbers of dead and wounded according to “the Hamas-run health ministry,” but adds: “The terror group’s figures are unverified, don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, and list all the fatalities as caused by Israel — even those believed to have been caused by hundreds of misfired rockets or otherwise by Palestinian fire.”
These are obvious points, yet the numbers are taken (or repeated) at face value by President Biden and others. Here is Biden performing his Big Brother shtick earlier this month: “You can’t have another 30,000 Palestinians dead as a consequence of going after [Hamas]. There are other ways to deal with Hamas.”
In his invaluable March 6 Tablet column, Professor Abraham Wyner explains “How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers” and even Biden must “know” this. It’s yet another sign of Biden’s turn against Israel and/or support for Hamas.
Let me add today’s sign, per Vice President Kamala Harris: “We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake. Let me tell you, I have studied the maps — there is nowhere for those folks to go. So we’ve been very clear that it would be a mistake to move into Rafah with any kind of military operation.”
VP Kamala Harris takes a tougher line against Israel (re: going after remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah) on ABC’s “This Week”:
“We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake. Let me tell you, I…
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) March 24, 2024
The Biden Administration’s diplomacy with Israel over its war against Hamas has reached the Animal House “double-secret probation” stage, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken warning Israel that it may find itself diplomatically “isolated” in the world if it attacks Rafah. Is it possible for Israel to be any more “isolated” than it already is in the joke that is called “the diplomatic community”? Dean Wormer could hardly have done it better, though, to be fair to Faber College, Dean Wormer would make a better secretary of state than Blinken.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Hoodie) is having none of it:
I’m starting to think that instead of banning hoodies on the Senate floor, maybe we should require them. At least for Democrats.
Chaser—I’m finding it harder to dislike this guy for his otherwise liberal views:
dibs on your parking space https://t.co/o9QUhIbKyF
— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) March 21, 2024
Chaser—Fetterman does have some competition this week, from the Ragin’ Cajun himself, James Carville: “A suspicion of mine is that there are too many preachy females [dominating the culture of the Democratic Party].”
October 7 was not a mere terror attack but a “full-scale invasion” of Israel by an enemy state, according to retired United States Army Major and urban and subterranean warfare expert John Spencer.
The post Exclusive: Renown Urban Warfare Expert John Spencer Warns ‘World Playing into Hamas’s Strategy’ appeared first on Breitbart.
A mob of angry anti-Israel protesters descended on a synagogue in Teaneck, New Jersey, on Monday night, venting their anger against a group of Israeli paramedics who visited to discuss their experiences after the October 7 attack.
The post Anti-Israel Protesters Target Teaneck Synagogue Event with Paramedics appeared first on Breitbart.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and John Fetterman's support of Israel makes them “political gadflies” to the left, a Wall Street Journal op-ed asserts.
The post WSJ: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., John Fetterman’s Israel Support Makes Them ‘Political Gadflies’ to the Left appeared first on Breitbart.
Pakistani police made more than 50 arrests after a mob of anti-Israel protesters set fire to a KFC in the northeastern town of Mirpur.
The post Hundreds in Anti-Israel Mob Set KFC Ablaze in Pakistan appeared first on Breitbart.
The Japanese government said on Tuesday it will resume funding UNRWA despite allegations of Hamas infiltration.
The post Japan Resumes Funding to Hamas-Linked UNRWA After October 7 Pause appeared first on Breitbart.
President Joe Biden issued a statement late Tuesday in response to the accidental killing of seven aid workers in Gaza by an Israel airstrike, blaming Israel for aid distribution problems and claiming Israel is not doing enough to protect civilians.
The post Biden Uses Aid Tragedy to Blame Israel for Civilian Deaths; Hamas Off the Hook appeared first on Breitbart.
On Tuesday’s “CNN News Central,” House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) stated that the unintentional deaths of World Central Kitchen employees by an Israeli airstrike shows that it’s crucial to get a ceasefire, but Hamas won’t
The post Dem Rep. Smith: ‘No Incentive’ for Hamas to Agree to Ceasefire, U.N. Won’t Condemn Them in Resolution Biden Let Pass appeared first on Breitbart.
The United Nations World Health Organization (W.H.O.) chief is facing backlash after publishing an “abhorrent” post effectively blaming Israel for turning Gaza's Shifa hospital into a “battlefield,” while ignoring Hamas’s takeover of the facility and use of it as a terror base — the very reason for Israel’s operating there.
The post ‘Utter Disgrace’ — W.H.O. Chief Slammed over ‘Abhorrent’ Gaza Hospital Post Ignoring Hamas’ Terror HQ Within appeared first on Breitbart.
Israel faces the prospect of a "color revolution" in the middle of its war against Palestinian Hamas terrorists in Gaza as the opposition backs street protests against government, and a key cabinet minister has demanded new elections.
The post Israel Faces ‘Color Revolution’ as Opposition Protests, Gantz Wants New Elections appeared first on Breitbart.
The Biden White House is attempting to overthrow the elected government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, using a four-part plan that reportedly involves the United Nations and left-wing activists in Israel.
The post Report: White House Using 4-Part Plan to Overthrow Netanyahu appeared first on Breitbart.
On Wednesday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “The Hill,” House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) stated that the media haven’t done enough to point out that Hamas is the biggest block to a ceasefire and Hamas needs to
The post Dem Rep. Smith: Media Have Been Too Soft on Hamas for Refusing Ceasefire, Using Human Shields appeared first on Breitbart.
On Wednesday’s “CNN Newsroom,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) said that while Israel has to “figure out how to double, triple, quadruple their efforts to make sure nothing like” the killing of several World Central Kitchen workers doesn’t happen again, “this
The post Moskowitz: Aid Worker Deaths Wouldn’t Have Happened if Hamas Accepted Ceasefire Offer appeared first on Breitbart.
Israel reiterated its intention Thursday to enter the town of Rafah in Gaza to destroy the remaining battalions of Hamas, promising to achieve "total victory" when it did so.
The post Israel: We Will Enter Rafah and ‘Achieve Total Victory’ over Hamas appeared first on Breitbart.
The University of California Los Angeles Medical School required all first-year students to attend a prayer in March by a guest speaker on "racial equity" who led students in a prayer to "Mama Earth" and chants of "Free Palestine."
The post Report: UCLA Required Medical Students to Join ‘Free Palestine’ Prayer to ‘Mama Earth’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Oscar-winning director Jonathan Glazer, who used his acceptance speech last month to trash Israel, is donating posters to an aid group for Palestinians that was accused in 2018 of radical propaganda and antisemitism.
The post Anti-Israel Director Jonathan Glazer Donates to Aid Group Accused of Antisemitism appeared first on Breitbart.
President Joe Biden demanded an "immediate ceasefire" from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Thursday between the two leaders, threatening a loss of U.S. support for the war if Israel does not comply.
The post Biden Demands ‘Immediate Ceasefire’ from Netanyahu in Phone Call appeared first on Breitbart.
Biden 2024 campaign co-chairman Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said Thursday on CNN that he now wants the United States to put conditions on military aid to Israel.
The post Biden Co-Chair Coons: It’s Now Time for U.S. to Put Conditions on Aid to Israel appeared first on Breitbart.
A Muslim emergency medicine physician, Dr. Thaer Ahmad, said he walked out of a meeting with President Joe Biden on Wednesday because of disagreements over the Hamas-Israel war.
The post Muslim Doctor Storms Out of Biden Meeting over Palestinian Conflict appeared first on Breitbart.
In a riveting Dr. Phil primetime episode, Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of Hamas’s cofounder, charged that there is “lots of hatred” against Jews in Islamic culture, insisting that “the vast majority” of Palestinians support Hamas, that October 7 was “an attempt for ethnic cleansing” and part of a “holy war,” and that without Israel as a common enemy, the Palestinians “would kill each other.”
The post Hamas Founder’s Son to Dr. Phil: Pro-Palestinian Activists in U.S. Belong in ‘Mental Asylum’ – Hamas Would ‘Massacre’ Them appeared first on Breitbart.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared to equate the State of Israel with the terrorist organization Hamas in remarks on Thursday, suggesting that both showed the same disregard for civilian life, evidence to the contrary.
The post Antony Blinken Warns Israel Becoming Like Hamas; Losing ‘Reverence for Human Life’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that President Joe Biden's strategy on Israel is not working.
The post ‘Something Has to Change’: Psaki Says ‘Clearly’ Biden’s Israel Strategy Not Working appeared first on Breitbart.
President Joe Biden decided to threaten Israel with a loss of support on Thursday — as Israel mobilized its reservists to prepare for a possible Iranian attack, and Iran prepared for “Al Quds Day,” its annual orgy of anti-Israel hatred.
The post Biden Dumps Israel on Eve of ‘Quds Day,’ as Iranian Attack Looms appeared first on Breitbart.
The State Department said on Wednesday that while the Biden administration remains committed to a “two-state solution” for Israel and the Palestinians, it opposes the Palestinian effort to negotiate statehood at the United Nations.
The post Biden Administration Opposes Palestinian Effort to Win Statehood at U.N. But May Withhold Veto appeared first on Breitbart.
On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby stated that while you can’t equate Israel’s actions to Hamas launching the October 7 attack, “it’s difficult to say” how close Israel is to becoming indistinguishable
The post White House: ‘Difficult to Say’ How Close Israel Is to Being Like Hamas appeared first on Breitbart.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Thursday on CNN's "The Lead" that the United States should not send additional aid to Israel while there were children in Gaza staving.
The post Bernie Sanders: ‘No More Military Aid to Israel When Children in Gaza Are Starving’ appeared first on Breitbart.
On Thursday's broadcast of CNN's "The Lead," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) stated that Hamas hiding among civilians is "perhaps, a part of the problem, but it's not the real problem." And starvation in Gaza "is Israel's responsibility, not Hamas'."
The post Sanders: Hamas Using Civilians as Shields ‘Is, Perhaps, a Part of the Problem,’ ‘Not the Real Problem’ appeared first on Breitbart.
With Biden abandoning Israel, the price of survival may be that the Jewish state has to become a pariah, at least for the near future.
The post Blue State Blues: The Jewish State as Pariah appeared first on Breitbart.
The U.N. Human Rights Council demanded Friday that Israel be held accountable for war crimes, without mentioning the atrocities of Hamas.
The post U.N. Human Rights Council Accuses Israel of War Crimes, Ignores Hamas Atrocities appeared first on Breitbart.
Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon have reportedly been holding “secret strategy sessions” with Hamas in Lebanon.
The post Iran’s Terrorist Militias Hold Secret Meetings with Hamas in Lebanon appeared first on Breitbart.
On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby stated that Israel hasn’t fulfilled its duty to protect civilians and allow humanitarian assistance and “we have tens of thousands of dead and
The post White House: Numbers of Dead, Injured Palestinians We’ve Cited Include Hamas Terrorists appeared first on Breitbart.
On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow,” Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz stated that any time America opposes Israel, “Hamas backs away from making any deals. Hamas says to itself, why should we give up any hostages? Biden’s
The post Dershowitz: Biden’s Doing Hamas’ Job for Political Reasons by Failing to Oppose Them Like He Opposes Putin appeared first on Breitbart.
On Friday’s broadcast of “CNN NewsNight,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) stated that we should point out that Hamas is still attacking Israel by launching rockets at it. Gottheimer stated, “I think there [are] a couple of facts we have to
The post Dem Rep. Gottheimer: ‘Critical’ to Note Hamas Is Still Attacking Israel by Launching Rockets at Them appeared first on Breitbart.
On Friday’s broadcast of “CNN NewsNight,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) said that conditioning aid to Israel will only “further empower Hamas.” Host Jim Sciutto said, “[O]ne could make a reasonable argument that Hamas wants to drag out these negotiations because
The post Dem Rep. Gottheimer: Conditioning Aid Will ‘Further Empower Hamas’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Netanyahu Spokesperson Tal Heinrich stated that Hamas terrorists aren't starving because "they've been hoarding and stealing the aid" as part of a goal to increase civilian suffering "in hopes that Israel will take the fire for it, and the international pressure on Israel will bring an eventual end to this war and let them stay in power, let them live another day, and carry out another October 7 massacre."
The post Israeli Spox: Hamas Terrorists Aren’t Starving Because They Steal Aid, Pressuring Us Incentivizes Their Evil appeared first on Breitbart.
Producers Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney will soon be debuting a play in New York about the horrific October 7 terrorist attacks.
The post ‘My Son Hunter’ Producers to Debut ‘October 7’ Play in New York: ‘As Told by Those Who Lived It’ appeared first on Breitbart.
On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) stated that the military operation to build a pier to help deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza is a mission where “we knew” that the American troops in
The post Kaine: U.S. Troops ‘Might Be in Harm’s Way from Hamas’ with Biden Pier Mission, But Now Might Be in Danger from IDF appeared first on Breitbart.
On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) stated that Israel has to allow more aid into Gaza and its war “shouldn’t be seen as a war against Palestinians or a war against Gazans.” He
The post Kaine: Israel Is ‘Creating Such an Escalatory Pressure’ in Middle East appeared first on Breitbart.
On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Inside Politics,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) responded to a question on conditioning U.S.-Israel aid by saying, “I respectfully disagree. I feel like we should remain fundamentally supportive of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” and that “Hamas has
The post Torres: Conditioning Aid to Israel Helps Hamas, We Seem to Forget 10/7 and Their Threats to Repeat It appeared first on Breitbart.
On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks stated that Hamas’ “chief strategy is to generate as many civilian deaths as they can to get world pressure to force Israel to desist.” But there’s “a growing callousness toward
The post Brooks: Hamas Has Strategy of Getting Civilians Killed to Put Pressure on Israel, I’m Glad Biden Pressured Israel appeared first on Breitbart.
Israeli commandos located and retrieved the body of Elad Katzir, 47, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz who was murdered in Gaza by his captors from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The post Israeli Commandos Retrieve Body of Murdered Hostage Elad Katzir in Gaza Raid appeared first on Breitbart.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) called the World Central Kitchen (WCK) after seeing a gunman mount one of its vehicles and fire into the air on Monday evening, but WCK could not reach its employees, according to a report.
The post Report: Hamas May Have Baited IDF Into Striking WCK Convoy in Error appeared first on Breitbart.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Sunday that it had withdrawn its forces from southern Gaza, following a demand from U.S. President Joe Biden last week for an "immediate ceasefire." Hamas declared victory on the news.
The post After U.S. Pressure, IDF Leaves Southern Gaza; Hamas Declares Victory appeared first on Breitbart.
Celebrity chef and World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that Israel was committing a “war against humanity."
The post José Andrés: Israel Is Committing a ‘War Against Humanity’ appeared first on Breitbart.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that the Biden administration was demanding the Israeli Defense Forces makes “deconfliction changes’ in Gaza Partial transcript as follow: MARTHA RADDATZ: He says this is a war against
The post Kirby: Israeli Defense Forces Have to Make ‘Deconfliction Changes’ in Gaza appeared first on Breitbart.
Biden opposed Israel winning the war because he wanted a Palestinian state, and forced Israel to accept responsibilty for Palestinian civilians.
The post Pollak: How Biden Brought Israel to the Brink of Failure appeared first on Breitbart.
Nearly half of British Muslims said that they sympathise with Hamas while just one in four believe Hamas committed attrocities on October 7th.
The post Nearly Half of British Muslims Sympathise With Hamas, Only One in Four Admit October 7th Atrocities appeared first on Breitbart.
The Israeli government denied Monday that the withdrawal of ground forces from southern Gaza on Sunday meant that it was giving up on its plan to attack Hamas in the city of Rafah and destroy the last four terrorist battalions.
The post Israel Denies that Troop Withdrawals Mean Giving Up on Destroying Hamas appeared first on Breitbart.
Orna Neutra, the mother of Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra, said on Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that bringing home the hostages should be included in any ceasefire demand. Neutra said, “Bringing the hostages back should be the top priority.
The post Israeli Hostage’s Mother: ‘Any Demand of Ceasefire Without Release of Hostages Is a Death Sentence’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the date had been set for an Israeli military operation in the city of Rafah, near Gaza's border with Egypt, to attack the last remaining Hamas battalions and destroy them.
The post Netanyahu: The Date Is Set for Attack on Hamas in Rafah appeared first on Breitbart.
Israel released video Monday of an interrogation of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad official admitting that one of its rockets hit the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, and not an Israeli airstrike, as Palestinians and the media originally claimed.
The post Interrogated Terrorist Appears to Admit Palestinian Rocket Hit Al-Ahly Hospital appeared first on Breitbart.
An Israeli-funded Super Bowl ad calling for the return of fathers captured by Hamas in their October 7 attack on Israel drew more complaints than any other ad that ran during the championship game, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documents claim.
The post REPORT: FCC Claims Israeli-Supported Super Bowl Ad Calling for Hostage Return Drew Most Complaints appeared first on Breitbart.
Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq claimed responsibility for five drone and missile attacks against targets in Israel.
The post Iraqi Jihadists Claim Flurry of Ineffective Attacks on Israel appeared first on Breitbart.
A group of anti-Israel protesters calling for Congress to support a ceasefire and end military aid to Israel shut down the Senate cafeteria.
The post Anti-Israel Protesters Shut Down Senate Cafeteria appeared first on Breitbart.
NGO Amnesty International is facing widespread mockery over a post eulogizing a deceased Palestinian terrorist as a mere “writer.”
The post Amnesty International Eulogizes Palestinian Terrorist Who Died in Prison as ‘Writer’ appeared first on Breitbart.
President Joe Biden called Tuesday for Israel to accept a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza for six to eight weeks -- before any of the remaining Israeli hostages are set free by Hamas, undermining Israel's military and diplomatic position.
The post Report: Biden Calls for Unilateral Ceasefire in Gaza — Before Israeli Hostages Freed appeared first on Breitbart.
A recent poll by the Pew Research Center shows that nearly half of Muslims in the U.S. support the Hamas terrorist group in its war against Israel -- a similar proportion to that found in a different poll of Muslims in the United Kingdom.
The post Nearly Half of U.S. Muslims, Like U.K. Muslims, Support Hamas in War appeared first on Breitbart.
On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) stated that Hamas may be rejecting deals to release hostages because they don’t want hostages to tell the world how Hamas brutalized them and possibly because “as long as
The post Kaine: Hamas May Be Keeping Hostages Because Israel’s ‘Overreacting’ and They Want People to Turn Against Israel appeared first on Breitbart.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Tuesday that Israel's efforts to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza are "not good enough," despite the fact that a record number of aid trucks are entering the territory daily since last week.
The post Israel Sends Record Number of Aid Trucks into Gaza; White House: ‘Not Good Enough’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo inadvertently admitted to Congress on Tuesday that the $6 billion that the Biden administration unfroze for Iran last year in exchange for the return of five American prisoners likely went to fund violent activity.
The post Senior Biden Treasury Official Admits $$ for Iran Goes Towards Violence, Not Humanitarian Needs appeared first on Breitbart.
A former Israeli hostage who was freed during a truce in November says that she was abducted from her home in Israel on October 7 by Palestinian civilians, not Hamas members, who then sold her in Gaza to Hamas terrorists.
The post Former Hostage: I Was Abducted By Palestinian Civilians, Sold to Hamas appeared first on Breitbart.
Three Republican senators introduced a bill on Tuesday challenging the elite status of Qatar as a "major non-NATO ally" of the United States, citing the Islamist state's close relationship with Hamas and its failure to use those ties to help free hostages taken in the unprecedented October 7 siege of Israel.
The post Republicans Debut Bill Challenging Qatar’s U.S. Alliance over Ties to Hamas appeared first on Breitbart.
President Joe Biden failed to mention the Israeli hostages once during his interview with Univision, which aired on Tuesday, and during which he demanded that Israel adopt a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza of six to eight weeks.
The post Biden Fails to Mention ‘Hostages’ Once During Univision Interview on Israel appeared first on Breitbart.
A proportional response means it will happen again and again until Israel is destroyed.
The liberals want Israel to “show restraint.” The most unthinking are those calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. As long as Hamas continues to exist, this war can never end. A ceasefire would be followed by countless billions in developmental aid flowing from the globalist establishment into Gaza. It would be a huge win for Hamas. Terrorist attacks against Israel would continue. And if Israel reacted again in the future, they would immediately be attacked by the globalists. Both Hezbollah and Hamas will continue to attack Israel, provoking, wounding, occasionally killing, and the world will continue telling Israel to restrain itself.
The Covenant of Hamas clearly states Hamas’s goal of killing all of the Jews and eliminating Israel. “HAMAS” is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement. The movement issued the Covenant of HAMAS on August 18, 1988. Hamas, an extremist fundamentalist Islamic organization, has been designated a terrorist organization by the US and many Western powers. The group was elected as the official authority in Gaza in 2006.
Hamas operates with the expressed intent of destroying the State of Israel through Jihad (Islamic Holy War). The HAMAS Covenant states: ‘The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.’ (Article 6). This suggests that not only does Hamas seek to eradicate Israel in Gaza, but also in the territory currently known as Israel, as well as the West Bank, where Hamas holds no authority.
Article 7 of the Hamas Covenant is interpreted as a call for genocide against Jews: “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.'”
There is no way to negotiate with a group whose aim is genocide. Liberals calling for compromise are actually just calling for Israel’s capitulation. What compromise would be possible? Hamas wants to kill 100% of the Jews. Should the two parties haggle and agree for Hamas to kill 40% instead? Given Hamas’s genocidal intent, there is no way that the two sides can coexist.
The two-state solution is complete nonsense. Gaza and the West Bank are not contiguous; they cannot be a single country. It would be impossible for Israel to ensure its security because they would be pressured by globalists to not impede Palestinians passing through Israel from one state to the other.
The liberals keep stressing that Gazaa and the Palestinians are not Hamas. However, there appears to be no anti-Hamas movement in Gaza. There is no anti-Hamas resistance. The Gazans looked very happy when they were celebrating after the October 7th attack on Israel. So, it is unclear how the liberals see Hamas as distinct from Gaza. And if they are distinct, why have the liberals not condemned Hamas? There don’t seem to be protests in the US or Europe stating “We support Gaza, but condemn Hamas.”
Even the liberals, even the Queers for Palestine are refusing to condemn Hamas. If they do not differentiate between Hamas and Gaza, then why should everyone else?
Iran and Qatar must also be held accountable for their support of Hamas and other militias. Qatar has provided financial and political support to Hamas, and Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was based in Qatar for a period. Additionally, Qatar has hosted a Hamas office, which serves as a political bureau and facilitates communication and coordination with the international community. This office has been involved in diplomatic efforts and media relations on behalf of Hamas.
Right now, the Houthis, an Iran-backed militia, are disrupting global shipping. Hezbollah is also ratcheting up their harassment of Israel, firing missiles into Israeli territory and trying to instigate a war. Given Israel’s current posture of seeking a military solution to finally end these insurgencies, Hezbollah may get the war they are asking for.
The world must not just sit on the sidelines, but should take an active role in targeting Iran, destroying the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) preventing China from supporting Iran economically, and disabling Iran’s ability to fund and train regional militias. This would decrease China and Russia’s access to oil and drones, respectively, which would help the US achieve foreign policy objectives in Asia, as well as in Ukraine.
One way to alleviate the burden on American taxpayers funding Ukraine would be to end the war. If China’s support for Russia were cut, the end would come much sooner. If Russia did not have Iranian drones, that would also help level the field and bring the end nearer.
Attacks on Iran would also serve to destroy Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The only way that Israel can survive is to eliminate Hamas. The only way for the region to be stabilized is for Iran’s destabilizing force to be eliminated.
The post Finishing Hamas: The Only Way the War Can End appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a high-rise tower in Gaza City
Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a high-rise tower in Gaza City, October 7, 2023. Palestinian militants have begun a "war" against Israel which they infiltrated by air, sea and land from the blockaded Gaza Strip, Israeli officials said, a major escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Photo by Ali Hamad apaimages
Survivors of the October 7 terror attack at the Supernova music festival gathered Wednesday evening at a lakefront for trance music, group therapy, and an opportunity to reconnect with one another.
The post Survivors of Supernova Massacre Gather for Trance, Therapy in Tel Aviv appeared first on Breitbart.
The former head of the Anti-Defamation League and longtime Biden supporter, Abraham Foxman, lashed out at President Joe Biden over his constant critiques of Netanyahu.
The post Former ADL Chief Abe Foxman: Biden’s ‘Ceaseless Criticism’ of Israeli PM Netanyahu ‘Strengthening’ Hamas appeared first on Breitbart.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, the city’s first Muslim and Arab American mayor, is being mocked online over attempts to engage in “damage control” after the city’s residents were seen at a rally chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”
The post Dearborn Muslim Mayor Mocked for ‘Damage Control’ Attempt After ‘Death to America’ Rally appeared first on Breitbart.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed three of the sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday in an airstrike in Gaza. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh learns that three of his sons were killed and responds: “I thank Allah
The post IDF Kills 3 Sons of Hamas Political Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza appeared first on Breitbart.
On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) stated that expecting Israel to “allow Hamas to reload” without anything in exchange is absurd and noted that Hamas likes steal aid has stripped Palestine “of
The post Manchin: Hamas Likes to Take Aid, They’ve Ensured Palestinians Have No Quality of Life appeared first on Breitbart.
President Joe Biden insisted on Wednesday that his support for Israel in the aftermath of the unprecedented terrorist assault on October 7 was "ironclad" and his administration would do "all [it] can to protect Israel's security."
The post Biden Claims Support for Israel ‘Ironclad’ After Omitting Hostages from Ceasefire Call appeared first on Breitbart.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, is reportedly ready to normalize relations with Israel as a condition of OECD membership.
The post Indonesia May Normalize Relations with Israel to Join OECD appeared first on Breitbart.
Passover celebrates the freedom of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. But this Passover, dozens of Israelis are still hostages in Gaza -- with some reportedly being sold by Hamas or forced to work as slaves.
The post ‘Let My People Go’: Kibbutz Nir Oz Holds Passover Seder to Demand Freedom for Hostages appeared first on Breitbart.
The UN, rather than demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and bodies, called for a ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. However, Hamas showed no such restraint, attacking Israel on October 7th, coinciding with the Jewish holy day that marks the transition from Shemini Atzeret, concluding the Sukkot festival, to Simchat Torah, a celebration of the completion and restarting of the annual Torah reading cycle. While the Pro-Palestine camp calls for an immediate ceasefire, Hamas is still holding hostages and refusing to release the bodies of those killed, including US citizens.
More than 250 hostages were captured or killed on October 7th. Israeli authorities have confirmed that at least 33 of the remaining 129 hostages are dead; however, there is evidence that most, if not all, have been murdered. Meanwhile, the bodies have not been returned. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) says that by withholding the bodies and refusing to confirm if hostages are alive or dead, Hamas is psychologically torturing the victims’ families.
By definition, this act of torture against innocent civilians, who in some cases do not even live in Israel, is an act of terrorism.
Both of Iris Weinstein Haggai’s parents, who were US citizens, were killed by Hamas on October 7th. However, Hamas has yet to release the bodies. Consequently, the grieving family has been unable to hold Shiva for their loved ones.
Shiva is a week-long mourning period observed by Jewish families following the death of a close relative, during which mourners gather to comfort the bereaved, recite prayers, and reflect on the deceased’s life. It has been described as “a time for spiritual and emotional healing.” Without the bodies of the deceased, holding Shiva becomes problematic, as the physical presence is a central aspect of the mourning process, providing closure and allowing for traditional funeral rites to be performed.
The family held a small gathering to honor the memory of the dead. However, the rabbi in attendance said that he was at a loss, as there was no prayer to address this horrific situation. He stated, “There’s nothing that really speaks to this. This is not normal.”
The family of Iris Weinstein is not alone in this dilemma; several other American families already know their relatives were killed by Hamas or are waiting for confirmation that those still held in captivity are dead. Without confirmation of death and without a body, the loss remains an open wound that the families cannot begin to overcome.
The inability to hold Shiva due to the absence of the bodies is deeply traumatic for the Jewish families affected. This is akin to the universal human need for a wake or ceremony in the presence of the deceased, allowing the family to come to terms with the loss before laying their loved ones to rest—a fundamental aspect across cultures worldwide.
Trying to grieve and honor the life of a deceased family member before getting the chance to bury their bodies is the wrenching position that numerous families of the hostages abducted by Hamas now find themselves in. So far, three American hostages have been confirmed dead, but Hamas is attempting to use the bodies and the hostages as bargaining chips. However, they have notified negotiators that they are unable to locate the 40 hostages they would need to release to begin a ceasefire.
One theory suggests that Hamas does not want to release the female hostages because they are pregnant, verifying irrefutably that they were raped. Another theory is that the hostages are dead, or that fewer than 40 remain living who meet the criteria of being female, aged, and wounded.
Hamas had already been granted a pause in the fighting back in November, during which it had agreed to release female hostages. Later, Hamas claimed they could not find the hostages, and the ceasefire broke down when Hamas launched another attack on Israel.
A statement released by the White House after a meeting with American families of hostages taken by Hamas states, “The Vice President underscored that President Biden and she have no higher priority than reuniting the hostages with their loved ones.” However, there has been no pressure by the US to force Hamas to release the hostages. The White House has also neglected to exert pressure on China to cease its support of Iran, and has taken no action to discourage Iran from supporting Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
The vice president’s claim of making this issue a priority was not substantiated by a White House Proclamation on U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day, which mentioned Gaza only once and did not mention Hamas at all.
And while not enough has been done to release the hostages, almost nothing has been done to recover the bodies of the slain so that families can get closure.
The post Hamas Refuses to Release Hostages or Bodies of the Dead appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
posters_of_hostages_taken_by_hamas_during_the_2023_attack_on_israel
Posters of hostages taken by Hamas during the 2023 attack on Israel" is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Image sourced from Wikimedia Commons
Israelis awoke Saturday morning to peace and quiet, wondering whether a much-touted Iranian attack will actually happen, or whether it was just a bluff.
The post Israel Wonders Whether Much-touted Iranian Attack Will Actually Happen appeared first on Breitbart.
On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that Israel is “always” expected “to act like no other nation would ever act.” And that if the United States faced the same level of hostility that Israel has,
The post Maher: We Would Have Already ‘Annihilated’ Hamas if They Attacked Us, Israel Is ‘Always’ Expected to Act Differently appeared first on Breitbart.
On April 12th, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized an Israeli ship near the Strait of Hormuz. While this represents one of the most overt and direct attacks by the IRGC against Israel, it underscores the broader support and training provided by the IRGC to groups like the
Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other militias and terrorist organizations. This support contributes to the destabilization of the Middle East and poses a threat to both Israeli and U.S. interests in the region.
Established during the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stands as a formidable military force in Iran, operating directly under the authority of the Supreme Leader, presently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Guided by an ideology vehemently opposed to Western influence, particularly directed towards the United States and Israel, the IRGC is renowned for its fervent slogans such as ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel,’ emblematic of its hostility towards these nations.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is known for its support of various militias and terrorist groups across the region. Notably, it provides assistance to Hamas in Gaza, furnishing weapons, financial aid, and training to bolster the group’s military capabilities.
Additionally, the IRGC backs Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the Gaza Strip, Kata’ib Hezbollah, and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq in Iraq, as well as Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Houthis are now active in disrupting shipping in the Red Sea.
The IRGC has been designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, including the United States. This designation is significant because the IRGC is an official government entity in Iran, making it one of the few state-backed actors to be labeled as a terrorist organization.
This raises legal questions regarding whether the Iranian government’s support for the IRGC constitutes aid to terrorist organizations, which is prohibited under international convention.
Most Americans have never forgotten nor forgiven the 1979 Islamic Revolution’s seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the subsequent hostage debacle, which went on for more than one year. Over the past decade or so, Iran-backed militias have indeed been involved in conflicts in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq, where U.S. soldiers have faced combat, encountered security threats, or lost their lives.
These militias have often been supported, trained, and equipped by the Iranian government or its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), contributing to instability and violence in these countries.
In response to Iran’s aggression, the US and its allies have launched repeated strikes against Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. Apart from supporting Israel, the US also backs numerous local partners, including the Yazidis, Kurds, Sunni Arab Tribes, Turkmen, Arab Tribal Militias, and Chaldean Christians. Consequently, it could be argued that both the US and Israel have been engaged in a proxy war with Iran for some time.
Retaliating against Iran’s proxies has done little to curb Iran’s aggressive actions. Since October 7th, there have been repeated clashes between American and allied troops against targets in Syria and Iraq, yet Iran’s aggression persists. Despite US and UK bombings in Yemen, Houthi attacks on ships persist.
At this moment, not only are Hezbollah and Hamas attacking Israel, and the Houthis attacking everyone else’s ships, but it also seems that Iran is threatening direct attacks on Israel. President Biden has warned Iran that the US is committed to defending Israel.
After years of limited engagement, Israel’s strategy now appears to aim for the complete elimination of Hamas, while also showing readiness to confront Hezbollah directly in Lebanon.
The proxy model has proven costly for the US, both in terms of lives and finances, yielding no tangible gains, not even peace. Furthermore, China and Russia leverage US failures in the Middle East to caution Taiwan, the Philippines, Ukraine, and Japan about the unreliability of the US as a partner.
Israel’s new strategy of directly and unequivocally destroying the bad guys is the one that no leader has dared try up until now. But it makes the most sense. And it would seem that the most logical step would be to cut the head off the snake, in a direct conflict with Iran.
Those who oppose a direct conflict with Iran often say that it would trigger a world war. But the reality is, there are only three major armies in the world capable of waging war overseas: the US, Russia, and China.
And it would not be in either Russia or China’s interests to go to war with the US over Iran. If they wanted a war with the US, there are a million other pretexts they could have come up with, but neither country has a mutual defense agreement with Iran.
If the US and Iran went to war, Russia and China would condemn the US actions. They would bring a resolution to the UN Security Council, and the US would veto it. A war would destabilize the Iranian government, nullifying its ability to support terrorist groups.
At the same time, Iran’s support for China with cheap oil, and Iran’s support for Russia with cheap drones, would also evaporate, bringing an end to the Ukraine War much closer.
The post Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC): Terrorists Supporting Terrorism appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Sure, here's a proper attribution for the image: "Photo by Mohammad Sadegh Heydari, sourced from [YPA.ir](http://www.ypa.ir/media/k2/galleries/517/02.jpg). Image depicts the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution exhibiting its main battle tanks during the Sacred Defence Week parade on September 21, 2012. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license."
On Friday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Fast Money,” Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Wesley Clark (Ret.) said that “Israel is not going to trust the United States if Iran strikes. It can’t, because look at what’s happening in Gaza right
The post Wesley Clark: Israel ‘Can’t’ ‘Trust the United States if Iran Strikes’ Because of How We’re Pressuring Them appeared first on Breitbart.
Former President Donald Trump issued a statement in support of Israel after Iran launched long-range drones at Israel on Saturday.
The post Donald Trump: Israel Attack ‘Would Never Have Happened’ Under My Presidency appeared first on Breitbart.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) were among the Republicans to issue statements in support of Israel after Iran launched long-range drones.
The post Republicans Rally Behind Israel after Iranian Attack appeared first on Breitbart.
Roughly a third of Democrat voters revealed that they feel President Joe Biden should be "tougher" on Israel, according to a recent poll.
The post Poll: A Third of Democrats Want Biden ‘Tougher’ on Israel appeared first on Breitbart.
A senior Iranian general with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike at the beginning of April had reportedly been involved in the "planning and execution" of Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The post Report: Iranian General Killed in Israeli Airstrike Involved in ‘Planning and Execution’ of Hamas Oct. 7 Attack appeared first on Breitbart.
A Saudi royal official says Iran “engineered the war in Gaza to destroy the progress in relations” between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The post Saudi Official: Iran ‘Engineered a War in Gaza’ to Ruin Saudi-Israel Relationship appeared first on Breitbart.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) praised Iran on Sunday for attacking Israel, describing the massive but largely ineffectual wave of drones and missiles as “brave,” “legal,” and “natural.”
The post Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad Applaud Iran’s Attack on Israel appeared first on Breitbart.
Tens of thousands of Israelis remain refugees in their own country after attacks by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist army, forced the evacuation of communities near the northern border in October.
The post EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Empty Israeli Towns Near Border with Lebanon; 60,000 Remain Refugees appeared first on Breitbart.
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