Free Republic

Hamas’ gruesome terrorist attack against Israel has left the entire world in shock, primarily at the barbarity of Hamas’ actions but also at the monumental intelligence failure on the part of Israel’s vaunted security establishment. The tragic attack has also encouraged some healthy critical reflection on the Biden regime’s Middle East policy. In a colossal blunder worthy of the legendarily inaccurate financial commentator Jim Cramer, Biden’s national security advisor Jake Sullivan just this month bragged that “the Middle East is quieter now than it has been in two decades.” Of course, no one can be expected to predict the future,...

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan denied that the US provided direct military assistance during Israel’s operation that rescued four hostages from the Nuseirat refugee camp Saturday. Sullivan acknowledged that the US did provide the Israel Defense Forces with general intelligence as it has done throughout the Israel-Hamas war, but was adamant that the US was not involved in the operation. “One thing I can say is that there were no US forces, no US boots on the ground involved in this operation. We did not participate militarily in this operation,” Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” in a pretaped...

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that it was tragic that innocent people were killed during the Israeli military operation that rescued four hostages who were kidnapped during the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack.Anchor Dana Bash said, "I want to ask you a little bit more about that mission. One of the questions is what we're hearing from Gaza, different hospitals in Gaza say at least 236 people were killed as a part of the Israeli operation to rescue hostages what is your understanding of how many Palestinian civilians, not militants, but...

Hostages were forced to read the Quran. Hostages who were rescued from captivity on Saturday say that the terrorists forced them to read the Quran and learn Islamic rulings.

Why do we never see Pro-Palestine activists protesting about the genocide in Sudan?.The cohorts of Hamas invaded my London neighbourhood on Thursday. I was out walking when I paused to look at the remaining posters of kidnapped Israelis. Suddenly they were there. Five men, their faces slack with hate, started screaming “F--- Israel!” and “colonialist pigs!” A.... It is Hamas, not the Israelis, who are the oppressors. No other baby in the world was kidnapped for seven months, during which time neither Unicef, Red Cross, nor Amnesty even questioned its captivity. This is an uncomfortable fact for Sadiq Khan. Equally...

Benny Gantz, a key member of Israel’s war cabinet, who is seen as a moderating presence, resigned from the government on Sunday, citing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza. Concerned with the open-ended conflict and the lack of success in retrieving those captured by Hamas, Gantz had, for weeks, been threatening to resign. He had set a deadline of Saturday for Netanyahu to address key issues, including the return of four hostages. After Israeli authorities announced the rescue of the hostages, Gantz postponed his planned news conference, choosing instead to wait a day before publicly...

Minister Benny Gantz (National Unity) announced on Sunday that he, together with his party, would be leaving the emergency government which he joined at the onset of the war. "Months after the October tragedy, the situation in the country and in the room of the decision-makers has changed. Netanyahu and his partners have turned unity into a moving call, without real-world action. Fateful strategic decisions are met with hesitancy and procrastination due to political considerations," Gantz stated in an address announcing his decision. He claimed that "Netanyahu prevents us from proceeding to true victory. Therefore, today, we are leaving the...

Since October 7, Hamas has had the choice to return the hostages and end the war. It refused, and now its supporters are horrified that Hamas and Co. are paying a price. Since October 7, Hamas has had the choice to return the hostages and end the war. It refused, and now its supporters are horrified that Hamas members, both in uniform and civilians. are paying a price. In 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza, leaving the region Judenrein (“Jew free,” as the Nazis liked to say) and without an Israeli military presence. There was no occupation. Gazans promptly—and overwhelmingly—elected Hamas,...

n Israel, the news of four hostages rescued from Gaza was met with cheering crowds and tearful scenes of reuniting families. Officials hailed the operation as miraculous and heroic, and offered a rare win for Israel's embattled Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. But it came at the expense of hundreds of Palestinians, who suffered one of the bloodiest days in Gaza. Video filmed by an NBC News crew on the ground showed streets scattered with charred bodies, survivors gathering body parts into sacks, rescuers carrying mangled and blood-soaked children into chaotic hospitals overwhelmed with the injured. By Sunday, joy in Israel...

Yossi Meir Jan, 57, the father of freed Israeli hostage Almog Meir Jan, 21, died just hours before his son was rescued by Israeli forces Saturday. The cause of death, his family said, was a broken heart after eight months of his son’s captivity. The Jerusalem Post reported: The father of Almog Meir Jan, one of the four hostages rescued from Hamas captivity, was found dead in his home on Saturday, according to Israeli media reports on Saturday night. … Though he was ill, family members told Israeli media that they believe he died from grief.

IDF spokesman says warning those holding the hostages 'would defeat the purpose' since the terrorists would 'kill the hostages'; CNN takes heat for saying that the hostages were 'released', implying that Hamas freed them. Ran Boker | published: 07.09.24 |14:34 The coverage of Operation Arnon, in which four hostages held captive in Gaza were rescued, aroused interest throughout the world media; But as is typical when it comes to the coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas, it did not go smoothly.. Conricus was forced to answer the obvious to the strange question: "Of course, we cannot anticipate Israel...

Arab journalist Abdallah Aljamal killed while reportedly attempting to prevent the rescue of a female hostage he held captive in his apartment.

Egypt and Jordan, two countries that have peace treaties with Israel, condemned the Israeli rescue of four hostages on Saturday — as did officials from the European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN) — over Palestinian casualties. As Breitbart News reported, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel Police, and Israel Security Agency (ISA) rescued four hostages: Noa Argamani, 25; Almog Meir Jan, 21,; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40. The commander of the elite Israeli police anti-terror “Yamam” unit, Arnon Zamora, was wounded in the attack and later died in the hospital. Palestinian sources claimed that over 200 people...

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...

Basically, they were keeping the hostages in couple of residential buildings, constantly moving them and never keeping them all in the same apartment. Incidentally, is it typical for a lieutenant colonel to be first through the door?

The Biden administration recently floated the idea of resettling a limited number of Palestinian refugees from Gaza to the United States. As a nation, it’s the least we can do. The reported proposal would bring Palestinians with immediate family ties in the U.S. to our shores. It is unclear how many Palestinians would qualify, but it would likely remain far below the need. Sounds straightforward, right? Wrong. The history of the Palestinian refugee question is fraught, as Palestinians have called for the “right to return” for refugees to their homeland, which is now part of Israel or claimed by Israel....

An investigation is underway after seniors at East Brunswick High School in New Jersey received yearbooks this week with a Jewish Student Union photo replaced by a photo of Muslim students, the superintendent said. “We were made aware that in yearbooks, distributed only to Seniors, the Jewish Student Union is accompanied by a photograph that is not associated with them in any way,” East Brunswick Public Schools Superintendent Victor Valeski posted on Facebook Wednesday. “Additionally, names of members of the Jewish Student Union were not published.” The school board has retained private legal counsel to investigate after the superintendent’s own...

In the furor over America’s campuses, it was easy to miss the letter that 500 of Columbia University’s Jews penned and signed to present their position in their own voice. Yet it was this letter, quietly distributed and far less aggressive than some of the other events that overshadowed it, that may prove to be the turning point in the struggle for American Jewry’s future. This is why. Twenty years ago, just after the second intifada, I went on a tour of American and Canadian campuses. Shaken by what I saw and heard, I told (then) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon...

Noa Argamani returned to the arms of her father today after 245 days spent in dire captivity in the beleaguered Gaza Strip. Noa, who was taken hostage by Hamas on the back of a motorcycle on October 7, was among four hostages rescued in a dramatic firefight with IDF forces earlier today. Emotional scenes showed Noa, 26, reunited with her father on his birthday - the first time in more than half a year that they had seen each other since her capture from the Supernova Music Festival.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel on Saturday rescued four hostages who were kidnapped in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, the largest such recovery operation since the war began. At least 94 Palestinians including children were killed as heavy fighting continued around the sites in central Gaza, the Health Ministry said. Saturday’s hostage recovery operation brings the total of rescued captives to seven. Two men were rescued in February and a woman was rescued in the aftermath of the October attack. Israeli troops have recovered at least 16 bodies of hostages, according to the government. The latest rescue...