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Tuesday, August 5, 2025 |
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday to deliver food and immediate medical treatment to Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. The request came days after Palestinian militant groups released videos of two Israeli hostages held in Gaza appearing emaciated. (AFP) See also EU, France, Germany Slam Hamas Hostage Videos (AFP) See also below Commentary: The International Red Cross: Abandoning the People It Was Established to Protect - Adam Kredo (Washington Free Beacon) Hizbullah's power has ebbed since Israel eliminated its leadership during the war in Oct.-Nov. 2024. Now Hizbullah is coming under growing pressure from the Lebanese government and its Western and Arab financial backers to surrender whatever is left of that arsenal, though it has so far resisted giving up its weapons. Israeli forces are still destroying arms caches, and the Lebanese Army has removed some weaponry. The Lebanese government must defang the group in order to secure Western funds. Meanwhile, Hizbullah has sought to portray the war as a triumph. "Victory" posters pervade Shiite neighborhoods, while the dead commanders are cast as saints in paradise. (New York Times) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) shared footage on Monday of bustling markets in Gaza with large quantities of food to counter Hamas's accusations of famine. The footage shows fresh produce being sold, along with pastry shops being open. While "aid is flowing in, by land and by air every day, Hamas is pushing a fake famine narrative" while stealing the aid and selling it at a large markup, COGAT said. "The food is there. The aid is there. Hamas just keeps it from those who need it most." (Jerusalem Post) See also Israel to Allow Entry of More Goods into Gaza - Sarah Ben-Nun A new mechanism has been approved to allow goods into Gaza in a "gradual and controlled" manner, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced Tuesday. Several local merchants have been approved to sell basic food products, baby food, fruits and vegetables, and hygiene supplies. (Jerusalem Post) Israel Foreign Ministry Deputy Director for International Organizations Amir Weissbrod wrote on X that "UNRWA still employs many Hamas terrorists. In employee lists sent to the Israeli Foreign Ministry last week, one can easily see that UNRWA employs many Hamas terrorists, some of whose names were sent in a letter to UNRWA Secretary-General Philippe Lazzarini and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in July 2024, but nothing was done about it. Any responsible government that doesn't want its taxpayers' money to reach Hamas should not fund UNRWA." (Ynet News) The Houthis in Yemen fired a ballistic missile at Israel early Tuesday that was successfully intercepted by IDF air defenses. Since March 18, the Houthis have launched 68 ballistic missiles and at least 18 drones at Israel. (Times of Israel) Israeli startups raised over $900 million across 28 deals in July, a 28% increase compared to last year. (Calcalist) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
The Gaza War Israel has been at war in Gaza for nearly two years. Despite inflicting significant damage on Hamas's capabilities, Hamas continues to function, both civically and militarily, as the ruling power in substantial parts of Gaza. Hamas controls the Gaza City area, western Khan Yunis, the central refugee camps, and the al-Mawasi area, where about half of the population resides. Hamas's leadership considers sumud (steadfastness) a supreme value with religious significance that transcends national meaning. It believes that merely surviving as the dominant armed force in Gaza, even in a weakened and damaged state, constitutes a form of victory over Israel. In Hamas's view, the Oct. 7 attack was a justified action that significantly advanced its goal of Israel's destruction. The only way to prevent Hamas's resurgence is through its complete dismantling as the effective ruling entity in Gaza. Dismantling Hamas means eliminating its capacity to function as an organized military and governmental authority. Unless Hamas is dismantled, no viable civilian alternative can emerge, and no real reconstruction process can begin. A secure reality in and around Gaza cannot be established, nor can the threats of raids into Israel and rocket fire be eliminated. If Hamas can be dismantled through a negotiated agreement, that would be the most desirable outcome. Yet, Hamas continues in its refusal to accept a deal. An agreement based on accepting Hamas's terms for the release of all the hostages is overly optimistic. The hostages are Hamas's most valuable asset and Hamas may not be quick to release them all. It is possible that not all the hostages are in Hamas's possession. Moreover, Hamas would portray the new reality as a victory and justification for the Oct. 7 attack, further motivating its military resurgence and desire for another such attack. The full takeover of Gaza and the establishment of a temporary military administration constitute the act of ending the war and transitioning to the phase of establishing an alternative governance model to Hamas and creating the conditions for Gaza's reconstruction to begin. The dual purpose of a military administration is to prevent Hamas's resurgence and sever its ties to the civilian population. The aim is to convince Gaza's public that Hamas will not return, thereby opening the door for new actors to assume responsibility for civilian governance. Prof. Kobi Michael is a senior researcher at INSS. Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser heads the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS). (Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University) The very organizations designed to help with the situation in Gaza, the United Nations and its sprawling web of aid partners, are collapsing under the weight of corruption, incompetence, and cowardice. Hundreds of UN aid trucks are sitting inside Gaza, fully loaded and going nowhere. Their aid delivery system is paralyzed - crippled by corruption, looting, and its own dangerous entanglements with Hamas. Food convoys routinely disappear into chaos or into the hands of Hamas militants. To make matters worse, much of the international media has become part of the problem. What once passed for journalism now often functions as a megaphone for Hamas propaganda - repeating their claims as fact, attacking independent aid efforts like the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) without evidence, and refusing to report credible allegations of collusion between aid agencies and terror operatives. The same outlets that downplay or ignore Hamas's brutality are the first to reflexively blame Israel for every civilian death, regardless of context or fact. This has consequences. That distorted coverage, echoed by activists, academics, and even elected officials across the West, has emboldened Hamas to prolong the war, inflict deeper suffering on its own people, and reject every off-ramp. The writer served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency and secretary of state. (Fox News) Hamas want a one-state solution, an Islamic State encompassing the entirety of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. Hence their slogan "from the river to the sea." Hamas's founding charter demands the annihilation of Israel and the death of Jews everywhere. Hamas is a miniature version of al-Qaeda. They will fight on fanatically for as long as they are physically able to do so. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party have pretty much the same objective as Hamas. That's why the U.S. State Department recently sanctioned them for funding and supporting terrorism and inculcating violent jihad into their population. In Gaza itself there is no political solution; Hamas can be dealt with only by military destruction. That means continuing the war until they are no longer a threat. That might include fostering internal military opposition, which is being tried, and forcing the leadership out of Gaza to a country willing to take them, which is also being planned. The writer, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, was chairman of the UK's national crisis management committee, COBRA. (Telegraph-UK) In recent days, I've spoken with dozens of Gazans who are furious about what is unfolding around them. They are angry, one told me, at the "hordes of selfish people who are attacking aid convoys to steal and collect aid in a horrific manner." But their anger is directed primarily at Hamas, which they hold responsible for putting the people of Gaza in this position, and for its continued refusal to end the war that it started. Another person said that Hamas is hunkered down in its tunnels, willing to see Gaza destroyed. Hamas actually wants a famine in Gaza. Producing death from hunger is the group's final play, its last hope for ending the war in a way that advances its goals. Online supporters of Hamas have consistently attacked any efforts to alleviate the crisis. In posts and videos, they have dismissed efforts to send in food by convoys of trucks from Egypt and Jordan, pointing to the chaotic scenes. They have also attacked the airdrops and called for them to be stopped immediately. The writer, a Gaza native, is a resident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council. (Atlantic) As Israel faces a blitzkrieg of international condemnation again, it is important to remember that in the war between the Jewish state and its enemies in Gaza, one side is deliberately starving innocent people to the point of emaciation. One side irrevocably denies the right of its adversary to exist. One side would, if it could, conduct a genocide against the other, wiping every last remnant off the face of the planet. That side isn't Israel. What is so sickening about the deafening chorus of condemnation Israel receives for its war effort is that it is so far from the underlying moral truth of this war. Israel is the side that wants lasting peace and security. Its enemies want a state of permanent and existential war and suffering for the innocents. (Wall Street Journal) Gaza's hunger crisis can be solved relatively quickly. The food and the delivery mechanisms are there and the process is already underway. But then what? The great majority have no homes to return to. The economy has ground to a halt because the factories, offices and stores that once employed them are no longer there. The same applies to schools. The infrastructure for water, power and communications is either gone or severely damaged. The costs of Gaza's recovery and reconstruction will not only be steep but, as the World Bank notes, "Recovery and reconstruction will require a substantial, years-long effort." The candidates who could be involved in reconstruction are problematic. The PA and Egypt have deserved reputations for corruption and inefficiency. Hamas will no doubt try to skim off some of the reconstruction funds to rebuild itself. The idea raised by President Trump to move many or all of the Gazans out of the enclave until enough housing and infrastructure is in place may be politically and morally problematic, but it may be the only option. Two million Gazans cannot live for years in tents and caravans, without livelihoods, their children being educated in jury-rigged schools, inside a giant construction site of dust, dirt and noise. (Ha'aretz) Hamas draws encouragement from the success of the "hunger in Gaza" campaign and the responses it generated worldwide. They are also pleased with the connection made between the Palestinian statehood recognition initiative and the war, which turned this initiative into a political achievement for Hamas. Add to this the easing of military pressure and the flooding of Gaza with food and civilian supplies, and we can understand the arrogance displayed by Hamas. When they see Israel is under attack from all sides, they see no reason to be flexible. Yet if Israel agrees to ending the war on Hamas's terms, this will not only leave Hamas as the central power in Gaza, which will enable it to rearm and strengthen again, but also paves the way for Hamas to take control of the West Bank as well, where it already enjoys great popularity. The writer, head of the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, served as National Security Council head during 2017-2021. (Makor Rishon-Israel Hayom) Recognizing a Palestinian State The Gaza aid crunch is starting to abate, as local prices fall. Why are Gazans paying for aid at all? The West has long insisted that recognition follow the creation of a Palestinian state, not precede it. And to create such a state, the Palestinians would have to agree to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Otherwise, a state would merely be a base from which to expand the fighting. No one should want the West Bank to become another Gaza, devoted to sacrificing its people in perpetual war against Israel. Reveling in French, UK and Canadian plans to recognize a state of Palestine, Hamas has hardened its position and rejected new ceasefire talks. The good news is that the decisions that matter aren't made in Paris, London or Ottawa. No Palestinian state is coming because the PA is weak, corrupt and intransigent, and Hamas wants to kill every Jew. International recognition can serve as a launchpad for legal warfare against Israel. But by showing Hamas that war works when fought cynically enough, and by showing the PA that it need never compromise, it pushes Palestinian statehood further away. (Wall Street Journal) France, Canada and the UK are attempting to give legitimacy to the people who perpetrated the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. These leaders may imagine that the state they wish to recognize won't resemble Hamas-ruled Gaza or the West Bank, where the corrupt regime of Mahmoud Abbas encourages terrorism and rules without any democratic mandate. But Paris, London, and Ottawa have provided neither support for reforming Palestinian governance nor a road map away from its established parties. Their recognition is little more than pro-Palestinian performance art. The writer is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. (Wall Street Journal) Palestinian Arabs For those who remember the April 2002 Jenin "massacre" hoax, the whirlwind of accusations of genocide, starvation and mass killings in Gaza are familiar. Then, as now, there is very little verifiable information, but, relying on Palestinian "sources," with their UN and NGO industry allies, Israel is again pronounced guilty. The Jenin massacre hoax serves as an object lesson for how a concerted campaign can turn propaganda and lies - parroted in a closed echo chamber - into unquestioned fact. Israeli forces were accused of a large-scale massacre in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. The dense urban area was the center of a Palestinian terror network that had carried out mass bombings, including a Passover night attack in Netanya that killed 30 Israeli civilians (a real massacre). Israeli casualties numbered hundreds of dead, and thousands with major injuries. Immediately after IDF forces entered Jenin, Palestinian officials and NGO "experts" rushed to the BBC and CNN, where they authoritatively declared that Israeli forces killed 500 or even 1,300 civilians. They described IDF tanks allegedly bulldozing homes and executing civilians. The UN Human Rights Commission held an emergency session to demand that Israel open the area to "international observers." NGOs lobbied intensively for the creation of an "independent investigation commission" to examine the evidence of Israeli war crimes. (The hundreds of Israeli victims of the Palestinian mass bombing campaign were of no interest to these human rights stalwarts.) But it was all a lie. Only 50 confirmed names of dead Palestinians were published (most affiliated with terror groups). 23 Israeli soldiers were killed In the fighting. But there were no consequences for the journalists, UN or NGO officials who spread the lies and added to anti-Israel hate propaganda. The storm regarding the food distribution process in Gaza features the same combination of unverified claims and the central role of NGOs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch in spreading the myths. As in Jenin, it could take months to discern and separate the facts in Gaza from the lies. It is important to maintain a healthy skepticism regarding unverified rumors. The writer is founder and president of NGO Monitor and professor emeritus of political studies at Bar-Ilan University. (Los Angeles Jewish Journal) Israel and the West In the face of an unprecedented global campaign of lies demonizing Israel as a means to its destruction, there is a duty based in Jewish values, as well as in common decency, to call this out as a great evil. Israel is certainly not using starvation as a weapon of war. On the contrary, it has allowed into Gaza tens of millions of tons of food since the war began. It has also instituted with the U.S. the only means of delivering food safely to Gazan civilians to stop Hamas stealing it for its own purposes. There is no evidence of starvation. Images of skeletal children published by the New York Times and other media were fraudulent. These children weren't skeletal because they were being starved in Gaza. They were either suffering from dreadful congenital diseases, or the pictures had been taken in Yemen. The giveaway was that adults and other children in the pictures were obviously well-fed. The Times cropped one horrific picture they prominently displayed to exclude just such a normal-looking child. The relentless bombardment of words and images denoting intolerable suffering in Gaza has been so overwhelming - striking the deepest chords of our humanity, even though the words and images may be false - that this manipulative campaign has had its intended effect. Conscience and compassion have been weaponized to service pure evil. Yes, there is hunger and misery in Gaza as a result of the war started by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. But this has been caused not by Israel but by Hamas. Gaza's civilians are an enemy population. Yet Israel is aiding them, in accordance with Jewish values of compassion, even to the enemy. The writer is a columnist for The Times-UK. (JNS) At the UN last week, a three-day confab sought to promote a plan to create a permanent existential threat to the state of Israel and terminate the paradigm of a negotiated settlement. The U.S. and Israel refused to join the antisemitic mob mentality or to sign on to the "New York Declaration," which sets out to impose on Israel what Palestinians want instead of facilitating negotiations between the parties, contrary to legally-binding prior agreements. Led by France and Saudi Arabia, the assembled gang met to conjure up support for immediate recognition of a Palestinian state. The declaration decides all the elements that were supposed to be subject to negotiations as listed in the Oslo agreements, including borders, settlements and Jerusalem. Negotiations are mentioned at the tail end vaguely because there is nothing left to negotiate. It demands Israel hand over fistfuls of money to the Palestinians - in the full knowledge that those dollars bankroll the pay-to-slay outrage. A Palestinian state is to come before "mutual recognition" of the Jewish state. It obscenely equates innocent Israeli hostages with Palestinian convicts having blood on their hands. It supports the Hamas practice of denying Palestinians a host of human rights: the right to flee, the right to leave any country including one's own, and the right to seek asylum. It supports the deployment of international troops allegedly to protect Palestinian civilians, without Israeli approval. It preposterously praises the Palestinian Authority, which it claims should "continue implementing its credible reform agenda" - despite the fact that the PA has failed to implement any credible reforms for thirty years. It talks about protection of "legal and historical...Islamic and Christian" claims in Jerusalem and says nothing about Jewish claims, Jewish history, or Judaism's holiest sites. The writer is president of Human Rights Voices and director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust. (Times of Israel) The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has done little to help the Israeli hostages in Gaza to secure medical care and food, despite its core mission to support hostages and prisoners of war. U.S. officials point to hostage release ceremonies earlier this year when Hamas paraded starving Israeli captives before jeering Gazan mobs and the Red Cross, which boasts of its neutrality, appeared on stage with Hamas terrorists to shake hands and sign paperwork. A senior Trump administration official said they were horrified by the recent videos showing two emaciated Israeli captives. "The ICRC is abandoning the very people it was established to protect. Almost two years since Oct. 7, it still hasn't delivered humanitarian aid and medical care to the hostages in Gaza. It's shameful that the Red Cross is still standing on the war's sidelines while civilians are starved and tortured in captivity. That the Red Cross keeps shunning aid for the hostages but participates in Hamas's propaganda ceremonies tells you everything you need to know about whose side they're on." A former senior Israeli defense official said, "Once again, when it comes to Jews being kidnapped, raped, starved, and murdered, the Red Cross is simply MIA. What a disgrace. For 666 days they've sat on the sidelines while Israeli civilians have been held in Holocaust-like conditions." (Washington Free Beacon) Driving around Ireland, I saw Palestinian flags hanging from windows or plastered across hedges in remote farmhouses. In Dublin, "Ceasefire Now" signs were draped across multi-story buildings. Support for the Palestinians, today represented by Hamas, is now the flavor of the month, the fashion among Western Europe's mainly ignorant young, who know nothing about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict beyond the daily images, many of them fake, of dead and dying children, images efficiently engineered by Hamas's propaganda machine. They know nothing of, and care even less about, the consistent Palestinian rejection of all compromise proposals by the international community and, periodically, by the Zionist leaders these past hundred years. They know nothing of, or care about, the constant Palestinian resort to terrorism, culminating in the Hamas assault on Israel on 7 Oct. 2023, in which some 1,200 Israelis (a few of them Arab Israelis) were killed and 250 (mostly civilians, aged six months to 89 years old) taken hostage. Over the past years, the Irish, including their government, have emerged as Israel's most vociferous beraters in Europe as reflected in the Palestinian flags draping the hedges. During my visit, I read the Irish newspapers and I found the space devoted to the Gaza war and the nature of the coverage truly mind-boggling. It was as if, perversely, the Gaza war was the only crisis on the planet and central to Ireland's very life and destiny. The writer is professor emeritus of Middle Eastern history at Ben-Gurion University. (Jewish Chronicle-UK) Israel has more of a right to exist than France. The Bible wasn't written in Marseille. The patriarchs and prophets did not walk the streets of Lyon. The French did not spend 2,000 years praying for a return from exile. God never said he would bless the nation that blesses France and curse the nation that curses it. When France was a land of warring barbarian tribes, Israel was a thriving kingdom and the site of Solomon's Temple and its successor. Christianity did not develop on the Left Bank of Paris. (Washington Times) Observations: The West Is Complicit in Hamas's Torture of Israeli Hostages - Brendan O'Neill (Spiked-UK)
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