Free Republic

Hamas deputy leader confirms his group is rebuilding its terrorist infrastructure and preparing for war with Israel. Hamas is no longer denying that it is rebuilding its terrorist tunnel infrastructure. On Friday, Hamas deputy leader Ismail Haniyeh publicly confirmed the group is developing its military capabilities and rebuilding the underground tunnels leading from Gaza to Israel in preparation for a future conflict, reported Haaretz. Haniyeh made the comments as part of his weekly sermon at the end of Friday prayers in Gaza and ahead of a funeral for seven Hamas terrorists who were killed this week when a tunnel collapsed...

In what can only be described as a celebration of violence and death, young Palestinian children participated in a Bethlehem parade last week by dressing up as armed terrorists, complete with mock suicide belts. The parade marked the 51st anniversary of the first terrorist attack by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement, and was attended by several high ranking Palestinian Authority officials. Ofer Gendelman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official spokesman to the Arab media, called the event a glorification of terrorism aimed at encouraging a new generation of Palestinian youth to join the violence.

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A terror suspect who was arrested in Houston last week went before a judge Wednesday afternoon, where his bond was denied. During testimony, we learned disturbing allegations against him. A federal investigator testified that Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, 24, wanted to blow up the Galleria and Sharpstown Mall with a remote bomb. According to testimony, Al Hardan would put the bomb in a trash can and detonate it using a cell phone. They also say he received military training on how to use an AK-47 late last year at a farm just outside of Houston. Agents...

our years ago, then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton considered a secret plan created by her advisers to clandestinely foment unrest among Arabs in Judea and Samaria, in order to push the Israeli government back to the negotiating table. The revelation arises from emails released as part of the investigation into the Democratic presidential frontrunner’s private email server..... Another Clinton confidant, Anne Marie Slaughter, sent an email to Clinton staffers recommending that they undertake a “Pledge for Palestine” campaign to convince US millionaires and billionaires to donate significant portions of their wealth to the Palestinian cause.

Goldfield, Iowa (CNN) - Ted Cruz argued the developing story of a terror-related arrest in his hometown of Houston on Thursday was the latest evidence that the United States should not accept refugees from Syria.At a hastily-called media availability here in a shuttered high school, Cruz wasted no time in quickly tying arrests in Houston and Sacramento, California, to a White House unwilling to recognize the Islamic nature of the threat facing the United States."These arrests underscore the need... for President Obama to suspend this indefensible policy putting political correctness ahead of national security," Cruz said.Cruz called for an evaluation...

Authorities say they have arrested two people on terrorism-related charges in Texas and California. Federal officials said 24-year-old Omar Faraj Al Hardan, a Palestinian born in Iraq, was arrested in Houston on Thursday. According to the federal indictment, Al Hardan has been charged with three counts alleging that he attempted to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization. He is charged with one count each of attempting to provide material support to ISIL, procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlawfully and making false statements. Federal authorities told NBC News that...

Dr. Ofer Merin of Shaare Tzedek says terror stab wounds are not random. 'It's as if someone read the manual.' Do Arab terrorists undergo some kind of preparation that teaches them how to cause maximum damage when stabbing Jews? One of the most prominent doctors treating terror victims in Jerusalem hinted Monday that this may indeed be so. Dr. Ofer Merin, Director of the Trauma Unit at Shaare Tzedek Hospital and Deputy Director of the hospital, estimated that the terrorists know exactly what part of the body to plunge their knives into, in order to murder. "The terrorists know where...

Representatives of major Palestinian Arab organizations call for a continuation of the current wave of terror against Israelis. Representatives of the major Palestinian Arab organizations gathered on Monday in Ramallah to discuss how to escalate the current terror wave against Israel, which they are calling the "Al-Quds Intifada". In a statement released at the end of the meeting it was noted that "the assassinations of our people (Palestinians) in the streets amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity". The Palestinian organizations called for a continuation of the intifada in all points of friction, military checkpoints in Judea and Samaria,...

Jesus was not Palestinian, the Uniting Church of Australia said after an umbrella Jewish group objected to a news story that called Palestinians "the living descendants of Christ." The saga began when two Palestinian Arab members of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, which has links with the Uniting Church of Australia, wrote a story that appeared last Tuesday in the leftist political publication New Matilda.The article, which was penned by Samah Sabawi and Bassam Dally, stated: "An official delegation representing our country in Israel has added fuel to the flames of extremism abroad by applauding proven human rights violators and...

Cruz, Meadows to Secretary Kerry: Close the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Office in Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, requesting that the State Department revoke the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s (PLO) waiver to maintain an office in Washington, D.C. The letter, signed by 32 members of Congress, cites Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reports that the PLO funds terrorism by paying “salaries” to Palestinians who are put in Israeli jails as a way of rewarding and incentivizing terror attacks. “Our close ally Israel is...

JNS.org - One of the Obama administration's least-known anti-terrorism programs was back in the news this week. After the capture of a fugitive Rwanda genocide suspect on Dec. 9, the news media noted that eight other Rwandan mass murderers are still on the run, and the State Department's "Rewards for Justice" program is offering $5 million to anyone who provides information leading to their capture. Paying tipsters may not be the single-most effective way to combat terrorism, but one should not dismiss the program's contributions. Its website,www.RewardsForJustice.net, reports that more than 80 informers have received reward money. Nine "success stories"...

In leaked recording of Likud faction meeting, prime minister also questions how New York would cope with wave of violence similar to one faced by Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel could destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem if it wanted to – but doing so "would be contrary to everything we represent." Netanyahu was speaking during a meeting of the Likud Knesset faction on Thursday. A recording of his words was published by Army Radio. Responding to what he said was Palestinian incitement regarding Israel's supposed interest in getting rid of...

Britain's leading anti-Israel organization has had its bank accounts closed, after it was revealed it may have been "inadvertently" funding Palestinian terrorism. The radical Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) - which counts UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn as one of its patrons - was informed by the Co-operative Bank that its accounts were being closed due to the "high risk" destinations of its funds, many of which are donated to Hamas-linked agencies and other extremist groups in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. ...

On Sunday morning, a female terrorist was attempting to stab a girl in the bus station at the junction of the Samaria Regional Brigade, when former Samaria Regional Council head Gershon Mesika noticed the incident and drove his car in her direction to try and stop her. Mesika’s car ran into a ditch after hitting the terrorist. At that point, according to Elyakim Gross from Itamar, he, Gross, shot two bullets into the terrorist’s body, and a soldier who had rushed over also shot her twice. The “official Fatah” Facebook page offered an entirely different narrative:

Palestinian attacks in Tel Aviv, West Bank, leave 5 dead JERUSALEM —A Massachusetts teenager studying in Israel is among five people killed in terror attacks Thursday. Ezra Schwartz, 18, of Sharon, was killed when police say a Palestinian man opened fire and rammed his car into a group of pedestrians. Officials said Schwartz was killed as he was delivering food to Israeli soldiers. Schwartz graduated from Maimonides School in Brookline this year.

DEVELOPING: Two Israelis were killed and another was injured Thursday after a stabbing attack by a Palestinian man inside an office building and shopping center in Tel Aviv, Israeli media reported.

Near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem,he later died of his wounds.

City seethes amid continuing calls for 'third intifada' as thousands gather to commemorate 11 years since Yasser Arafat’s death. The new Nutella shop on Zahra street in downtown Ramallah was humming with business on Wednesday. High school students Nur and her friend Sawsan had come into the city from the town of Katanna for memorial ceremonies marking the anniversary of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s death 11 years ago, but they seemed more interested in consuming large amounts of creamy Nutella atop fresh warm crepes than in discussing politics. “Yes, we’re having an intifada, but it’s not so bad here. It’s...

Controversial MK: 'It is easy to notice [Israel's] gradual moral descent that reminds us of Germany during the 1930's.' MK Haneen Zoabi (Joint List) spoke at an Amsterdam ceremony honoring Kristallnacht this evening. The event is described as an "Alternative Kristallnacht Commemoration," and is put on by leftist organization, with minimal attention paid to the mass slaughter of Europe's Jews. The Arab politician may seem an odd choice, particularly in light of her strong insistence that Prime Minister Netanyahu was wrong to draw a connection between Palestinians and the Holocaust, she made her purpose clear by trying to convince the...

Government report ties Iran to deaths of nearly 200 troops Nearly 200 U.S. troops have been killed and nearly 1,000 injured by Iranian-made explosives in Iraq, according to new disclosures from a partially declassified report conducted by U.S. Central Command and described by sources to the Washington Free Beacon.The number of U.S. deaths resulting from Iranian terrorism were revealed for the first time on Wednesday by Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) during a hearing focusing on the Obama administration's failure to prosecute terrorists directly responsible for the deaths of Americans.At least 196 U.S. service members fighting in Iraq were killed...