Free Republic

Jibril Rajoub, Secretary of the Fatah Central Committee, said recently in an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is a “pragmatic, patriotic, and realistic man” and that Israel is attempting to demonize him. Rajoub also accused Israel of “demonizing” Iran and preventing it from being admitted into international society. He stated that Israel’s “unilateral attacks” on “Palestine”, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and the whole world are threatening the stability of the region and world peace. The comments, which were made on August 6, were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). .....

REPORTER: "You seem to give the Israelis more of a benefit of the doubt than your own president...civilian casualties are mounting..." KIRBY: "They have published online maps of places where people can go or not go. That's basically telegraphing your punches! There's very few modern militaries in the world that would do that! I don't know that WE would do that!" Twitter link

Former US President Donald Trump sued CNN for defamation on Monday, seeking $475 million in punitive damages and claiming that the network had carried out a "campaign of libel and slander" against him, Reuters reported. Trump claims in his lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that the network had used its influence as a leading news organization to defeat him politically. He further says in the lawsuit that CNN used such defamatory labels against him as "racist," "Russian lackey," "insurrectionist" and "Hitler." CNN declined to comment on the case. .....

A Hamas delegation arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for meetings with Iranian officials, i24NEWS reported, citing Iran’s IRNA news agency. The delegation is led by Khalil al-Hayya and will meet on Thursday with Iranian officials to discuss the "latest status of the Palestinian nation's resistance" with the "Permanent Secretariat of the International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada affiliated to Iran’s Parliament", the report said. The Hamas representative in Lebanon, Osamah Hamdan, and its representative in Iran, Khalid Qaddoumi, will also participate in the meetings. Hamas and Iran have restored ties that had been strained in recent years, as...

British Home Secretary Priti Patel on Wednesday denounced the incident on Tuesday in which Israel’s Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, had to be removed under tight security from a speaking engagement at the London School of Economics. “Disgusted by the treatment of the Israeli Ambassador at LSE last night. Antisemitism has no place in our universities or our country,” tweeted Patel. “I will continue to do everything possible to keep the Jewish community safe from intimidation, harassment and abuse,” she added. “I have been in touch with Tzipi Hotovely and the police have my full backing in investigating this...

A Sudanese delegation made up of senior security and military officials visited Israel earlier this week to discuss relations between the two countries, the Al-Arabiya network reported on Friday. No details were provided about the meetings. Sudan became the third Arab country to normalize ties with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords brokered by the Trump Administration in October, 2020, following the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The agreement between Israel and Sudan was announced days after then-US President Donald Trump officially removed Sudan from the list of nations that sponsor and finance terrorism. However, despite the agreement, no...

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper responded on Monday to reports that the US-led coalition to combat the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization has decided to withdraw from Iraq. "There has been no decision to leave Iraq. Period," he said. Earlier it was reported that the commander of Task Force Iraq had written a letter to the Iraqis informing them of the decision to withdraw. .....

The United States on Monday received a vote of confidence on the deal with Iran, as Gulf Arab states welcomed the deal negotiated with world powers, The Associated Press (AP) reported. At the same time, they said they would like further assurances that the U.S. would help them counter increasing Iranian assertiveness in the region. Speaking for the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Qatar's Foreign Minister said that the bloc had been impressed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's presentation of the agreement and explanations of how it will be verified and enforced. "Consequently, the GCC countries have welcomed...

The State Department once again took Israel to task on Wednesday for criticizing Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to achieve peace. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that criticism of Kerry over his threats of a boycott of Israel if peace talks fail were meant to distract attention from progress in the peace process. “Any rhetoric that is inaccurate and critical as this is unhelpful. These kind of attacks are unacceptable. They not only distort his record but they distract from the key issues at hand,” she said. Psaki added, however, that Kerry was planning to ignore the...