Free Republic

Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement on Thursday by which the Palestinian Authority will take control over the Gaza Strip. The deal also includes Hamas' consent for a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, according to a Fatah official. Hassin Alsheikh, a negotiator on the Fatah team, told Haaretz that the Palestinian Authority will take responsibility for the reconstruction of the Strip as well as for manning the Gaza crossings "effective immediately." He added that Hamas also agreed to support Palestinian President Abbas' plan for establishing a state within the '67 borders. Hamas' negotiator Musa Abu Marzouk and...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that too many Israelis were ready to abandon a bid for peace in the region and, in a departure from his prepared remarks, added that this was something Israelis should think about. Related Stories 1. Obama urges Iran not to let opportunity pass for nuclear deal Reuters 2. What Obama Wants From The UN (The Note) ABC News 3. Modi's Power Play - Can Obama Charm Him? Huffington Post 4. Obama says will allow no 'safe haven' for Islamic State militants Reuters 5. Khorasan planned imminent attacks against U.S....

Dozens of Arab rioters began shooting fireworks at police on the Temple Mount on Wednesday morning, just hours before the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) began, and as soon as the holiest site in Judaism was opened to Jewish visitors. The rioters fired at police at the Mughrabi Gate, which is the only point of access for Jewish visitors to the site currently under the de facto rule of the Jordanian Waqf (Islamic trust). Yassam police special forces and Border Patrol officers pushed their way onto the Temple Mount and pressed back the rioters. Upon arriving on the holy site,...

Geneva, Switzerland – In a speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council today, September 23, Father Gabriel Naddaf, an Israeli Arab Greek Orthodox priest from Nazareth, called attention to the plight of Christian minorities suffering under Muslim extremists in the Arab world. Speaking immediately after a panel discussion on the “Human Rights Situation in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories,” during a special debate on racism at the Council’s 27th Regular Session, Father Naddaf discussed the violent oppression facing Middle Eastern Christians and their widespread flight from the region in recent years.

Why the senator’s brand of foreign policy is dangerous. The Republican Party is divided on foreign policy. There are “interventionists” like John McCain and Lindsey Graham who want America to more aggressively wage war—either directly or via proxies—in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and beyond. And there are “isolationists” like Rand Paul who worry that if America tries to fix the world’s problems through the barrel of a gun, we’ll become a bankrupt empire rather than a prosperous republic. Then there’s Ted Cruz, who unites both factions by embodying the worst of each. Take Cruz’s position on ISIS. Like McCain...

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the two men who kidnapped and murdered the three Israeli boys, Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel, identified as Amer Abu Aisha & Marwan Qawame were killed overnight by Israel:[snip] According to Israel-based Haaretz: According to the Shin Bet, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha were hiding in a house in the West Bank. Israeli forces arrived at the area, and according to Palestinian reports, fired a rocket at the house and additionally used a bulldozer.

The timing of this incident is rather curious, to say the least. Israel announced today that a single Syrian Su-24 fighter jet crossed over into Israeli airspace over the contested Golan Heights, prompting the IDF to shoot it down with a Patriot battery. This apparently took place while the US and its Arab partners launched air strikes elsewhere in Syria:CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO The Israeli military shot down a Syrian fighter jet that infiltrated its airspace over the Golan Heights on Tuesday morning — the first such downing in decades, heightening tensions in the volatile plateau.The military...

Israel has shot down a Syrian fighter jet over the Golan Heights, in the first such incident in almost 30 years. Syria has described the shooting as an “act of aggression”.

The I.N.S Tannin (named after the biblical sea monster) is sleek and mysterious, even more so than her older sisters; she is also much more technologically advanced than her older sisters. Tanin submarine. (photo credit:IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT) Mazal tov Israel! Mazal tov IDF and mazal tov to the Israeli navy! The newest addition to the Israeli submarine fleet is entering her new home – an Israeli port. The I.N.S Tannin (named after the biblical sea monster) is sleek and mysterious, even more so than her older sisters; she is also much more technologically advanced than her older sisters. The new...

The Battle Over Israel’s ‘Etzion Bloc’Posted By Morton A. Klein and Dr. Daniel Mandel On September 22, 2014 @ 12:35 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 18 Comments While the Middle East burns and tens of thousands of corpses pile up in Syria and Iraq, Jewish residence anywhere beyond the 1949 armistice lines ––  in eastern Jerusalem, the West Bank, transfixes the attention of foreign governments. Just recall the Obama Administration saying nothing when, in March 2010, the Palestinian Authority (PA) named a public square in Ramallah in honor of blood-soaked terrorist Dalal Mughrabi –– but condemned Israel for announcing a...

The savages have been dealt with killed during capture attempt. No prisoner exchanges for these slaughterers.

As the White House and Congress consider a shifting of U.S. alliances in the war against ISIS, a prominent Lebanese analyst warns Washington against establishing a partnership with Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah, saying it would be a "very serious mistake." Walid Phares, PhD., who briefed members of Congress this week, said instead pressure should be placed on Hezbollah to abide by terms of U.N. resolution 1701 requiring the group to disarm. The resolution was approved by the world body follow ing Lebanon's 2006 war with Israel and it has yet to be honored by Hezbollah. Phares reminds U.S. government leaders...

Republican lawmakers are raising alarm that Secretary of State John Kerry is putting too much on the table in talks over Iran's nuclear program -- as Tehran reportedly tries to leverage its cooperation in the Islamic State crisis in return for nuclear concessions from the U.S. and its allies. The White House denies that any such trade-off is in the works. "The United States will not be in a position of trading aspects of Iran's nuclear program to secure commitments to take on ISIL," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday, using an alternate acronym for the Islamic State....

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas vowed on Monday to present a new timetable for peace talks with Israel when he addresses world leaders at the United Nations later this week, according to AFP. “I say today to Prime Minister (Binyamin) Netanyahu: end the occupation, make peace,” Abbas told an audience in New York. In a passionate address to students in the Cooper Union hall, Abbas said, “The international community has the responsibility to protect our people, living under the terror of settlers, an occupying army.” …

Two major groups of Arab sates questioned Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas in Gaza, in addresses to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday in Geneva. Describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as self-defense is both “legally incorrect” and “morally abhorrent,” said Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. […] Switzerland, Ireland, and Iceland were among the few Western countries to address to address the UNHRC under Agenda Item 7. Ireland condemned both Israel and Hamas as unacceptable for attacking innocent civilians during the Gaza war. With respect to Israeli attacks in Gaza, Ireland said,...

Children at a school in southern Gaza are reportedly being terrorized by the sounds of Hamas detainees being tortured at an adjacent police compound. Arabic-language Al Hayat Al-Jadida says parents of children attending the school in central Khan Younis have complained to authorities on numerous occasions about the phenomenon, which includes the chilling sounds of “shrieks and cries of pain”, and has left students shaken. The sounds of torture apparently emanate from a building belonging to the Department of General Intelligence, which is tasked among other things with detaining and interrogating suspected “collaborators” or informants for Israel. One ninth-grade student,...

Israel Sending Doctors, Nurses To Africa To Save Lives Of Ebola VictimsBy Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem — September 22, 2014 … Doctors and nurses from Israel will be risking their lives as they join an international effort to combat the Ebola epidemic sweeping across Africa. Doctors and other health care professionals from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Beer Sheva who specialize in infectious disease are being sent to Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Liberia to treat infected patients and help prevent spread of the deadly virus. Two physicians are already in Cameroon on behalf of the Israel Foreign Ministry in...

Mohammed Afif, the new head of public relations for the Lebanese-based Iranian-backed terror organization Hezbollah, gave a rare New York Times interview as Lebanese experts reveal his group is indirectly receiving American intelligence aid in its fight against Islamic State (ISIS). Following ISIS's temporary conquest of Arsal last month on the Lebanese side of the Syrian border, the US sent new weapons to the Lebanese army, which coordinates with Hezbollah. Likewise, US intelligence has found its way to Hezbollah according to Lebanese experts. That leaked intelligence may explain some recent impressive achievements against ISIS, including the first known Hezbollah drone...

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the most popular names for newborn boys in Israel this past year was Yosef, followed by Daniel, Uri, and Itai, while girls were most popularly named Tamar, Noa, Shira, and Adelle. But in a story on Monday, Israeli daily Haaretz disputed the accuracy of that data – because it ignores the names of infants born in the Arab sector. According to the newspaper, the CBS “neglected to mention that the list only included Hebrew names.” The real most popular name, Haaretz said, was actually Mohammed.

Mohammed Afif, the new head of public relations for the Lebanese-based Iran-proxy terror organization Hezbollah, gave a rare New York Times interview as Lebanese experts reveal his group is indirectly receiving American intelligence aid in its fight against Islamic State (ISIS). Following ISIS’s temporary conquest of Arsal last month on the Lebanese side of the Syrian border, the US sent new weapons to the Lebanese army, which coordinates with Hezbollah. Likewise, US intelligence has found its way to Hezbollah according to Lebanese experts. …