Free Republic

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese criticized Israel for the operation in which Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir Jan (21), Andrey Kozlov (27), and Shlomi Ziv (40), four of the hostages who were kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, were rescued. "Relieved that four hostages have been released," Albanese wrote on X, using the word 'released' instead of the more accurate 'rescued.' However, she claimed, "It should not have come at the expense of at least 200 Palestinians, including children, killed and over 400 injured by Israel...

U.S., Egyptian and Israeli officials failed to make progress in a meeting last Sunday about reopening the Rafah crossing after the Israeli side refused to allow any role for the Palestinian Authority in operating the strategic site, according to four U.S. and Israeli officials. Why it matters: Reopening the crossing on the border of Egypt and Gaza, preventing Hamas from smuggling weapons into the Strip from Egypt and maintaining a tenuous peace between Israel and Egypt are top priorities for the Biden administration. U.S. officials say the reopening of the Rafah crossing could be a first step in a wider...

Half of all the Hamas terrorists in Gaza have been killed during the war, according to Reuters, citing U.S. officials Thursday, and most of the remaining ones are holed up in the town of Rafah, where Israel has been advancing slowly. Reuters reported: Hamas has seen about half its forces wiped out in eight months of war and is relying on hit-and-run insurgent tactics to frustrate Israel’s attempts to take control of Gaza, U.S. and Israeli officials told Reuters. The enclave’s ruling group has been reduced to between 9,000 and 12,000 fighters, according to three senior U.S. officials familiar with...

In the lead up to the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) operation to destroy Hamas and secure the release of over 100 hostages – including 8 Americas – believed to be in and around Rafah, leaders around the world from Joe Biden to the collective leftist leaders of the European Union to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi panicked and ordered Israel to forestall its necessary means to end the war.Why did world leaders clamor for Israel to do nothing?What are they hiding?It turns out they are hiding a lot.Over one million Gazans were said to be sheltering in humanitarian safe areas...

Four hostages including a British Israeli citizen have been murdered in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli military. Nadav Popplewell, 51, who was taken from Kibbutz Nirim, was confirmed dead by Israeli officials on Monday — along with Israelis Chaim Peri, 79, Yoram Metsger, 80, and Amiram Cooper, 84, who were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz, the Times of Israel reports. Hamas previously claimed that all four were killed in Israeli airstrikes. The circumestances of their deaths was not immediately clear.

The military said on Wednesday that it now had full operational control of the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. This effectively clamps down on any possible weapons flow to Hamas from the outside. Troops located 20 tunnels crossing into Egypt near the Philadelphi Corridor and 82 tunnel shafts. This information was passed on to Egypt. Egypt’s Al Qahera News denied the reports. “It doesn’t mean that we have boots on the ground across all of the corridors, but it means we can control and we have the ability to cut off the...

Gaza's 9 mile border with Egypt includes a buffer zone known in Israel as the Philadelphi corridor. Today Israel claimed it had gained tactical control over the corridor and located more than a dozen tunnels used to smuggle items into Gaza.Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, said the zone was “Hamas’s oxygen tube” and had been used by the Palestinian armed group for “smuggling munitions into Gazan territory on a regular basis.” He said that Hamas had also built tunnels near the Egyptian border, calculating that Israel would not dare strike so close to Egyptian territory.Israeli officials have...

Saudi Arabia accused Israel on Wednesday of committing “continuous genocidal massacres” against Palestinians, casting the Biden administration’s efforts to broker a “normalization” deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia in doubt. In a statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry — which has taken a tougher line toward Israel than Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) — accused Israel of deliberately targeting the tents of Palestinians in Gaza. #Statement | Saudi Arabia condemns and denounces in the strongest terms the continuous genocidal massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people without deterrence by continuing to target the tents of defenseless...

The IDF in a preliminary investigation: Hamas ammunition caused the deaths of civilians in Rafah. The army began to investigate the circumstances of the death of about 45 Palestinians in northwest Rafah. Hamas blamed the IDF, but the initial investigation states that the IDF did not attack there at all. Shlomi Diaz. 20 Iyar 5784. 28.05.24 | 18:43 .. In the recording published by the IDF, one of the speakers is heard saying that "They say that they (Hamas operatives who were eliminated) sat in a meeting, and that there is (a facility) and in addition, there was ammunition that...

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tanks reached the center of the town of Rafah on Tuesday. according to multiple media outlets, indicating that Israel intended to fight outwards toward the periphery rather than closing in from the outside. The Wall Street Journal reported: Israeli tanks advanced farther into Rafah on Tuesday, according to witnesses, as the Israeli military said it was expanding operations in the southern Gaza city amid growing international condemnation. The tanks passed near the Al-Awda mosque, a central Rafah landmark, Palestinians in the city told The Wall Street Journal. The Israeli military didn’t comment on the specifics of...

An unusual exchange of fire occured this morning (Monday) between IDF forces and soldiers of the Egyptian army in the Rafah Crossing area. During the incident, an Egyptian soldier was killed and several others were injured. There were no casualties among the IDF forces. Israeli officials stated that the incident began when an Egyptian soldier opened fire at IDF troops, who then returned fire. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit stated, "A few hours ago (Monday), a shooting incident occurred on the Egyptian border. The incident is under review and discussions are being held with the Egyptians." .....

Pressure is building between Israel and Egypt over Palestinian refugees as Israel prepares its offensive on Rafah, where Hamas is hiding out and using human shields. According to an Atlantic Council report:Relations between Egypt and Israel have soured in recent weeks as Israel prepares to launch a full-scale ground offensive into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip—a move that Cairo has warned would put its peace treaty with Israel at risk and destabilize the region.Egypt fears a sweeping assault on Rafah—where more than one million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge from Israel’s incessant bombardment of the northern and central Gaza...

Israeli tanks advanced further into Rafah on Tuesday, according to witnesses, as the Israeli military said it was expanding operations in the southern Gaza city amid growing international condemnation. The tanks passed near the Al-Awda mosque, a central Rafah landmark, Palestinians in the city told The Wall Street Journal. The Israeli military didn’t comment on the specifics of its push into Rafah, but Israel’s Army Radio said the military had added a brigade to the five already operating in the city and troops were engaging in close-quarters combat with Hamas. Israel is trying to thread a needle by pursuing a...

An Egyptian soldier was killed in a clash with Israeli soldiers near the Rafah Border Crossing in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, the countries’ militaries said, in an incident that threatened the already strained ties between the nations. The circumstances of the cross-border shooting were not immediately clear, and it was unknown which side opened fire first. There were no casualties among Israeli forces. The Israel Defense Forces described the incident as “a shooting incident” on the border. “There was a shooting incident on the Egyptian border; the [incident] is under investigation, [and] dialogue is taking place with the...

Television host Piers Morgan backed a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war Monday morning, saying in a string of social media posts that a recent Israeli strike in a Rafah “safe zone” that killed more than 40 people was too far. “The scenes from Rafah overnight are horrific,” Morgan wrote on the social platform X. “I’ve defended Israel’s right to defend itself after Oct 7, but slaughtering so many innocent people as they cower in a refugee camp is indefensible.”

On Monday’s “CNN News Central,” New York Times White House and National Security Correspondent, author, and CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely correct that the Rafah operation that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has ordered Israel to stop is “central to wiping out Hamas” and he thinks that the ICC is correct that the collateral damage from the operation isn’t worth the number of terrorists that Israel would kill. Sanger said, “[I]f in fact, the Israelis did what they said they did, which was kill two terrorists who were...

At least 35 Palestinians were killed Sunday in an Israeli strike on a tent encampment, Gaza health officials said, that the Israeli military claims targeted two senior Hamas officials. The strike targeted a humanitarian zone in Rafah which the Israeli military previously instructed displaced Palestinians to shelter from attacks, the Gaza Health Ministry said. The ministry said most of the 35 dead were women and children, and that the death toll is likely to rise as “countless” are trapped in rubble. The attack comes just days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to stop its operations in...

On Nawaf Salam announcing on the Hague calling on Israel to halt Rafah operation (that will harm population). Ayelet Frish: Sits there a Lebanese [Arab] and incites the world against Israel. Not a word about decapitation on Oct 7. Journalist: Legitimate to point out the hypocrisy of the court and what does a Lebanese to "judge" Israel? Lawyer Ilan Bombach: Nothing about the hostages was decided. Israel announces every area ahead of operation to be evacuated. only because we keep the crimes. US there a country that does that? US and UK on Afghanistan did not do any of this....

Hamas fired rockets at the Tel Aviv area on Sunday, marking the first time in four months that a barrage reached central Israel from Gaza, and emphasizing the importance of Israel’s fight against Hamas in its last stronghold. According to Cumta, an app that publishes warnings from Israel’s Red Alert system, the rockets targeted areas north and west of Tel Aviv, including Petah Tikva and Herzliya Pituach, one of the wealthiest communities in Israel.

JERUSALEM — The Israeli government is pushing forward on intensifying military operations against Hamas in Rafah, despite increasing international isolation, deepening tensions with President Biden and pressure from Israeli society critical of efforts to free hostages held in Gaza. Israel describes the southern Gazan city of Rafah as the stronghold of the last pieces of Hamas’s conventional army, and it sees the border area with Egypt as a loose sieve where weapons and supplies flow freely to Hamas. Biden has said he has a red line against an Israeli military operation in Rafah that causes wide-scale destruction and death for...